


Gal Pals

by imasouleater



Series: RE 2 Remake: Scenario A or B [2]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Bio Organic Weapons | B.O.W.s, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Female Character, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, Zombies, as if i wouldn't do it with claire, bisexual oc, fluff in between the serious stuff, if youve seen the games you know, ooc is most likely happening, see inside for lots more details, self-indulgent af, we'll see when we get there lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:46:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25259434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imasouleater/pseuds/imasouleater
Summary: A survivor makes it to the Raccoon Police Department during a zombie outbreak to find safety. Only this time, she decides to take a different route, leading her onto a slightly different adventure with a beautiful stranger. This is a counterpart story to Leon A's route.This fic is just another self-insert story taking place during the Resident Evil 2 Remake. I am warning you ahead of time, this shit is super self-indulgent, probably over detailed and probably not very realistic. BUT I had a good time writing it and, honestly, I made it for me. I’d just thought to share for other fans who like these kinds of fics like me. See the inside for more details and warnings.
Relationships: Claire Redfield/Original Character(s), Claire Redfield/Original Female Character(s) or female oriented, Claire Redfield/Reader, Claire Redfield/You
Series: RE 2 Remake: Scenario A or B [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672390
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As stated in the summary this is a self-insert story.  
> By all means, feel free to put yourself in the OC’s place. Change the hair in your mind, change your eye color, do whatever the fuck you want. Replace the name in your head as you go along. The OC was mainly a placeholder for the character.
> 
> Also another thing, things will be different throughout the story via boss battles and items because I want to incorporate the impact of Leon’s actions from his A scenario. Not all the time. Some things I have to keep ‘cause of how the game is played, but sometimes. Especially near the end. Just trust me on this. If you’re interested and haven’t read it yet, I have the counterpart fic but in Leon A scenario since I’m also in love with him lol

**New game [2nd Run]: Claire Redfield**

**Chapter 1:**

Groans of the undead filled the night air. The empty streets were paved only with abandoned cars, lingering bodies, and scattered garbage. Rain pelted the ground reflecting back the chaotic environment in the puddles it left. The water almost ran red with all of the blood spilled during the carnage. However, there was one other sound echoing in the night, and it was the sound of footsteps running hastily across the city. 

They were made by a lone survivor trying to find safety in this godforsaken place, where despite being alone, she had somehow managed to stay alive. Stopping under a nearby tree to catch her breath, she could hear the loud voice of the PSA drawing nearer. Shelter and supplies sounded very nice right about now. Maybe just one more block, she can make it! There had to be survivors, right? 

With all of the running, she couldn't feel the cold sting of the rain on her skin anymore, even as it drenched through her thin purple flannel. Her jean shorts and ripped black tights weren't any better in protecting her legs from the rain. She didn’t expect the weather to turn south and she certainly didn’t expect the city to fall victim to an outbreak. Unfortunately, she had lost her jacket in a skirmish with those monsters out there, but that wasn't important. All that mattered was that she would live no matter what. 

Just as she was about to start running again, the sound of a loud explosion in the distance rang out through the city. The ground shook even to where she stood, meaning that it wasn't too far off.  _ That’s gonna draw attention, I have to keep moving! _ With that thought in mind, she took off toward the Raccoon City Police Department.

Rounding the corner, she could see the giant lit-up sign of the R.P.D. in the distance and a feeling of hope filled her heart. She carefully looked out onto the street in front of the colossal building only to curse under her breath. To her dismay, more of the wandering dead were walking near the front gate. She took a moment to think before deciding to take a stealthier approach.

Perhaps there was a back or side entrance she could use instead. Carefully, she weaved through cars till she reached the giant brick fence surrounding the station then followed it away from the front entrance. To her luck, she found a small white iron gate leading to the side of the building, but she was also just as unlucky to find it already locked. Looking around, she didn’t see any monsters, so she gave it a little shake to see if she could pry it open, but to no avail.

“C’mon! Please open!” she grunted and tried to reach the lock on the inside. The gate rattled in her grip enough to cause her to whip her head around for danger. She was being too loud.  _ Maybe this wasn’t- _

“Hello?” a girl’s voice suddenly called out from inside. _ A saving grace!  _ Pulling her hand back, the survivor heard footsteps from the inside coming her way.

“Hey! Is someone there?! Please open the gate!” she pleaded, hope filling her at the prospect of finally being safe.

From around the corner came a tall caucasian girl with brown hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her red leather jacket and jeans were soaked to the bone, just as she was. She ran over to the gate without hesitation, unlocked it, and yanked it open much to the girl’s relief. 

“My god you’re actually alive!” the stranger exclaimed. The other girl quickly ran in and shut the gate behind her, locking it back up before turning to her savior. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her life and she didn’t even know her.

“Yeah, somehow!” she said while trying to catch her breath. “Thank you so much! I couldn’t find another way to get in. I don’t know where else to go!”

“It’s no problem! I’m glad you’re safe! Name’s Claire, Claire Redfield,” she introduced herself, holding out a hand to the other.

“Veronica Lopez,” Veronica replied, grasping Claire’s hand and shaking it. It was cold and wet, such as the environment will do, but it was still soft. Even in the dimly lit outside, Veronica could tell Claire was pretty, which might’ve been a problem since she was a closeted bisexual. But now wasn’t the time for that.

"Nice to meet you, Veronica."

"Likewise!” They both began walking away from the gate, glancing around at their surroundings when Veronica spoke up again. “ Hey, um, listen I know were still strangers and all, but do you mind if I stick with you? I really don't want to go through this alone anymore." Claire turned to her and blinked in surprise at her statement.

"Anymore? Have you been by yourself this whole time?!" The other girl nodded as she swiped her hair away from her face, wiping the droplets of rain against her skin.

"I barely drove into town today to visit my friend. I had no idea what was happening. My car broke down and I've been trapped here ever since. Any safe place I went to, just shut me out. They didn't want to risk any of those things getting in." 

"Those assholes," Claire scoffed in anger then softly grasped one of Veronica's shoulders. "Of course you can stay with me! Just keep close. I have another friend here somewhere in the station. I'm sure he's gotten here before us." Veronica sighed in relief and nodded in gratitude.

The pair continued walking around, finding a large yard filled with shallow graves. Each mound of dirt was marked by a thin plank of wood. There was even a hole filled with bodies that wasn’t finished with burying them. Each body was tied up in body bags, meaning that if they weren’t fully dead, they were going to have a hard time getting out. Taking it in, they realized that the survivors in the station turned this peaceful-looking picnic area into a makeshift graveyard. And the number of graves was devastating.

“So, how long have you been here?” Veronica asked as she picked up one of the leftover planks of wood that was lying around. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it’ll have to do. If anything, this was the best thing she had all day. Claire carefully looked around a corner that led further towards the station and down a wide staircase as she responded. 

“Just got here. I wasn’t even here for five minutes before I heard you show up. My friend, Leon, and I were separated after a gas tanker exploded. I had to take quite the detour to get here.”

“Holy shit! That explosion was you?! I heard it from all the way over here!”

“Yeah. It was a miracle that we even survived, to be honest,” she said leading the way down the flight of stairs that led under the front entrance to the station. There was a door right under the poorly lit bridge, but they found the handle wrapped in chains. They would need something to cut it to get in. The taller girl turned to the other and Veronica couldn’t help but notice that she flitted her eyes up and down to get a better look at her. 

Claire’s expression was unreadable, but Veronica would be lying if she said she wasn’t doing the same. From what she could tell, Claire was tall and fit, with long toned arms and legs. She may have been only a few inches taller than her but it was enough for Veronica to slightly look up at her. Even under such shit lighting, she could tell her cheeks were dotted with cute freckles under her intense ocean eyes and her pink lips looked soft as they rested in a cute pout. Her long bangs framed her face nicely, even though the ponytail she had was already getting messy.

Her clothes were casual but in almost a biker girl kind of way. The leather jacket with the biker-like design on the back being the dead giveaway. Veronica couldn’t really see the design since it was too dark to see in the night, but from what she could tell, it looked cool. There was already a gun holster strapped to her thigh, but it was no surprise in seeing it. There was a black undershirt that peeked out from beneath her red leather jacket, and a feather necklace hung down from her neck near her chest. Veronica tried to keep her eyes up as to not be rude, but boy was it hard. Claire was beautiful.

“Do you by chance have a gun?” Veronica just lifted the wood in her hand to answer. “Right. Do you know how to shoot if we found you one?”

“Kinda, but not really. I’m a little scared to, to be honest.”

“I get it. Well, if we find you one, I’ll help teach you how to shoot ‘cause you’re gonna need it.”

“Right.”

They continued to make their way forward, going back out into the rain and up another set of stairs. As they were walking up to it, they heard a distant buzzing growing louder in the sky. They looked at each other curiously, then tried looking up to find the source, but it was hard to find it while being surrounded by thick trees.

“Is that a helicopter?” Veronica asked. 

“If it is, then that means we can get rescued!” Carefully walking up onto the courtyard, they found there were bodies lying around. Whether they were actually dead or not, they didn’t know, but they weren’t moving yet. That had to be a good sign, right? Turning a corner, they found a chain-linked fence in front of a possible entryway to the station about 15 feet away. It stood high above them with barbed wire sitting at the top.  _ I guess climbing it is out of the question.  _

As the pair began making their way towards it, however, they were stopped dead in their tracks as the buzzing sound grew louder overhead. They watched in horror as a helicopter swooped in low, clearly out of control, and crashed into the side of the building. The wall crumbled down on it leaving a giant cloud of dust in its wake. No one got out of it, as if anyone could survive a crash like that. 

“Oh my god!” Veronica gasped. 

“So much for getting rescued,” Claire mumbled dryly. As they continued on toward the gate, a door on the second floor of the station opened, much to their surprise. It was a young man and he was shining his flashlight onto the crash site. Claire’s face filled with recognition once she saw him. 

“HEY!” she shouted at him, her voice echoing in the night air. “LEON!?” Catching his attention, he ran over to the stair railing to look down at them. 

“CLAIRE! HOLD ON! I’LL BE RIGHT THERE!”

“OK!”

The girls finally ran over to the gate to meet him. There was a door in the fence, but unfortunately, it was locked. Claire tried rattling at the knob and shoving at the door but to no avail. Looking around for something to help, Veronica found a bolt cutter sitting in a wheelbarrow against the wall. However, it would take too long to clip through the gate, not to mention it would let the zombies in if they did so. So instead, she grabbed it for the door they had passed by earlier. 

The young man made it down the stairs in record time and Veronica was caught by surprise. He looked to be just as young as they were and was dressed head to toe in an upgraded police uniform that fits well to a built body. His light brown hair was soaked but it still framed a really handsome face. If the situation was different enough where she met Leon instead of Claire, she might’ve fallen for him.  _ Wow, ok now is not the time to be in a bisexual panic. We are in a zombie outbreak, calm down!  _

“Claire...It is so nice to see you,” Leon sighed as he grasped onto the fence with gloved hands. Veronica had to agree, seeing another living human being was very nice indeed.

“How’re you doing? That helicopter just came out of nowhere…” Claire nodded up to the crash site. Leon glanced over at it for a second while nodding.

“Yeah...I’m in one piece.” Claire nodded for a moment before her eyes flicked over to Veronica. Leon followed her gaze, his blue eyes meeting her brown ones.

“Who’s this?”

“This is Veronica! We both got here around the same time, so we’re going to be gal pals from now on,” Claire joked, causing Veronica to inwardly choke on her breath. Even though it was a joke, the gay implications were the only thing that came to mind for her. 

“Gal pals, huh? Well, it’s nice to meet you, Veronica!” he grinned and Veronica couldn’t help the one growing on her own face. 

“Likewise, it’s really nice to meet you too, Leon. Glad to see someone still alive amidst this chaos!”

Glancing over at Claire, her eyes were also on her.  _ Holy shit, both of them are looking at me and they’re both beautiful literally what the fuck. _ She cleared her throat and looked away, seemingly stopping the other two from staring. When Claire faced Leon again, the boy raised his eyebrows suggestively at her causing her to clear her throat embarrassingly and a light blush to spread across her cheeks.

“I’m guessing you don’t have a key in one of those fancy pockets?” Claire asked looking at the many pouches at his waist, even if to divert the conversation.

“Unfortunately, no...But, how are you guys doing?”

“You know,” she shrugged playfully as she leaned an arm against the gate, “just surviving.” Both Leon and Veronica chuckled at that.

“That’s good. Any luck with your brother?”

“Your brother?” Veronica asked. Claire looked over at her and nodded.

“Yeah, I came here looking for my brother, Chris. He works here, but no, not yet.”

“Claire, don’t lose hope...I’m sure we’re gonna find him-,” Leon began when suddenly, a giant explosion from behind him interrupted him. Turning around, the helicopter had caught on fire causing the fire alarm bell in the building to ring loudly into the night. 

“Damn it. You know what that means,” he stated grimly. Claire and Veronica turned at the sounds of snarling coming from behind them. A body was already sitting up near a bench at the end of the courtyard.

“Yeah...Dinner time,” Claire mumbled while taking out her gun, Veronica holding her makeshift weapon tightly in her hand.

“Guys, I think you should go.” They turned back to face him, Veronica watching him with sad eyes.

“Don’t worry about us, Leon. You take care of yourself.” The farther fence that surrounded the building was beginning to shake with the amount of undead trying to get in.

“You both need to go- NOW!” Leon urged. Claire silently agreed as she began to walk away, but Veronica hesitated, her fingers grasping at the fence tightly. She didn’t know him, but she still cared. She didn’t want anyone else to die tonight.

“Please be careful, Leon,” Veronica pleaded, receiving a swift nod and a small smile in return. She turned and jogged over to follow Claire who was waiting for her. They both turned to look at Leon, one last time.

“Hey...Let’s get through this. All of us,” Claire wished full of conviction for the group. Leon nodded in agreement before the girls looked at each other then began running back the way they came. Now with the bolt cutters in hand, they could get into that room they had found for safety and supplies if there were any. They were able to dodge and weave past most of the zombies, but Claire did have to shoot a couple just to get through. She was already low on ammo. 

Once they made it to the door, Veronica quickly used the bolt cutters and opened it in a flash. Dashing inside, they locked it behind them, to find a tiny room with a desk, a big black box, and some lockers. Next to the desk was a police recruitment poster with a man named Brad Vickers on it. There was a fleeting thought in her head as she saw it where it was strange to remember there was a regular city before this all happened. Now it was all chaos and destruction. This Brad guy could be dead for all she knew. 

“Over here!” Veronica whispered, pulling Claire out of the door window’s line of sight and into the corner. “Don’t move.” They waited in silence on the darker side of the small room near where the poster was, pressing themselves against the concrete wall. The groans of the zombies that were following them made it just outside the door. The girl’s hearts began racing in their chests as they waited. If they were found and the zombies were able to break in, they were ultimately fucked. The zombie’s pawed uselessly at the plexiglass for a solid few minutes before they lost interest and stumbled away. 

The girls waited a few more seconds before finally relaxing. Claire decided to carefully peek out the window and found no zombies waiting too closely nearby. Taking this moment, she sat on the big box, while Veronica sat on the chair in front of the desk to try and catch their breaths.  _ A few minutes won’t hurt. _

“We can never catch a break, can we?” Claire sighed looking over at the other survivor who shook her head. 

“Never seems like it," Veronica replied while squeezing the water out of her long brown hair. She glanced over at the other girl to find her looking right back at her. They gave a small smile to each other before turning away and glancing around the room. There was a strange feeling of tension in the air. It was faint and prickled at the skin but did not go unnoticed. Claire was very cute and so far, she’s been very cool as a person, so it wasn’t hard to feel a little attraction. However, Veronica had to keep her head on her shoulders. This was not the time for a silly little crush. 

“That was some quick thinking!” Claire suddenly asked, as if to break the tension. “You know, with the hiding? It’s a small room with not much to hide in. How did you know that would work? Aren’t those things usually relentless?”

“It was just basic instinct,” she answered before looking back over at the other. “But even though they may be relentless, they’re not exactly smart. I figured out that once you’re out of sight and quiet for a good while, they’ll forget you’re there and walk away. It's worked for me so far. That with a little distraction. Throwing a rock in the opposite direction has worked a couple of times in getting me out of a jam,” Veronica explained. Claire nodded as she took in that information before thinking about her next question.

“Do you by chance know how all of this started? I mean, a zombie apocalypse doesn’t just happen overnight!” she asked. Veronica merely shrugged.

“No idea. I didn’t know this was happening till I got here and no one would give me an answer when I asked. As far as I know, the people don’t know either.” 

Claire sighed at that and stared at her feet as she thought about what to do next. While she did that, Veronica decided to finally check her surroundings. Across from her against the wall was an old radiator and she noticed something odd sitting on top of it. It was kind of dark to see, so she picked it up thinking it could be something useful. Revealing it out into the light, she gasped and quickly set it on the table. It was a grenade.

"Oh I'm not carrying that," she muttered nervously. Claire picked it up to study it before hooking it around her belt.

"I will. I know how to use it." Veronica blinked curiously at her.

"You do?"

"My brother, Chris, taught me. He was in the Air Force before joining S.T.A.R.S. here at the R.P.D. We lost our parents when we were young so it was just me and him for a long time. He wanted to make sure I was protected even when he wasn't around to protect me," Claire explained while smiling fondly at the memory. “I can only hope he’s around so that we can find him and Leon, then all of us can get the hell out of dodge.” There was a moment of hesitation before Veronica spoke again.

“Do you really think he’s still here?” Veronica asked, avoiding whether the question should be about if the guy was even alive at all. “I mean, he hasn’t like, tried to call you? Told you to stay away?”

“Honestly, I hope he’s not here, but I don’t know for sure. And no, he didn’t. Not too long ago, Chris just stopped calling. It was like he dropped off of the map. He was always so adamant about keeping in contact with me since I’m his little sister, but then he just...vanishes. By the time I called the station to ask, no one answered. And now I’m starting to know why.”

“So that’s why you’re here…”

“Yeah. I got really worried about him. And now, I….I’m going to find him and bring him home.” Veronica pursed her lips and didn’t say anything. Now was not the time to shatter her hopes. Who knows? Maybe the guy was alive after all. After a minute, Veronica sighed remembering where they were, and the little time that they had.

“We should search this room for supplies then figure out a game plan. Right?” she suggested.

“Right! First, we need to get into the station somehow and catch up with Leon! Once we find him, we’ll work from there.” With that plan in mind, they both got up and looked around for supplies before they could leave. Veronica turned to the desk behind her and found another gun.  _ What luck! _

“Oh! That’s a Quickdraw Army gun!” Claire told her excitedly. The shorter girl raised an eyebrow.

“Wow! How do you know that?”

“Like I said, my brother is very protective of me. He’s taught me how to take care of myself in an emergency and that includes gun training.” She held out her hand for the gun, which Veronica gave. “This one can shoot very fast, kinda like those old westerns when they do those gunfights. I’ll trade you guns if that’s alright with you.” Veronica didn’t know much about guns, but she figured Claire would make better use of it than she would.

“Sure.” Claire handed her the revolver that she was using before as she checked her new gun for ammo. Despite now having a weapon to protect herself with, the gun felt heavy in Veronica's hand, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it. But she knew she had to use it eventually in order to survive. 

“Here. Let me teach you how to use it.” The other girl began to explain the basics, bringing up both of Veronica’s arms. She gently fixed her hand position on the gun handle and placed her thumb on the hammer. The girl in purple felt her heart pound in her chest at all the touching and closeness. She could feel Claire’s breath brush lightly against her cheek.

Her touch was soft and sent little shocks across Veronica’s skin. She was suddenly very hyper-aware of the other girl’s body heat near hers and the cramped space of the room didn’t exactly help with that. Blood rushed up to her cheeks and she could feel the warmth spread across her chest. Claire didn't seem to notice as she explained what to do with her arms and how to aim. Why Veronica was suddenly so focused on this, she didn’t know.  _ This is so not the time for this! _ Claire’s voice behind her suddenly awoke her from her thoughts.

“Now make sure, you keep your finger away from the trigger until you’re about to shoot. We don’t want an accident happening.” Veronica nodded and brought herself back to reality as she listened to how to reload the gun. With that lesson done, Claire pulled away to do more searching and Veronica felt like she could breathe again.  _ Damn me and my gay panic! _

While she internally calmed down, Claire turned towards an open locker on the other side of the room and peered inside. Finding something useful, she pulled out an extra gun holster made more specifically for the gun they had found in the room. She reached around her own leg and unclipped her current holster, holding it out for the other to take. Once in hand, Claire clipped on the one she found, placing her gun inside.

Following suit, Veronica clipped hers around her own thigh, before placing the gun she was given inside it. Since she was low on ammo and considering they found more ammo for Claire’s gun in the room, she decided to keep the wooden board as a makeshift weapon for the time being. It’s not like she had any real target practice before.

Digging through the large police issued box, they found a couple of leftover pouches and new large police-grade knives in sheaths. They hooked them to their waists since they were useful. They didn’t know what they would be up against or what they would find, but anything could help. Once they were done getting ready, Claire took one last look into the lockers for anything she had missed. Opening one a little wider, she noticed there was a key hook on the other side. To their luck, on one of the hooks was a key labeled for the gate they met Leon at.

“Well, what do ya know!” she exclaimed, lifting it up into view with her finger hooked on the key ring.

Taking their luck in stride, they pulled out their weapons and carefully peeked out the door window. There still didn’t seem to be any zombies around. So on a count of three, they ran out of the room and took off up the stairs. At the top, they were met with the crowd of zombies they had dodged past, and they were all too quickly noticed. The group was too big to hold off with the ammo they had, so, with some quick thinking, Claire reached behind her and grabbed the grenade. She pulled the pin and threw it over towards the zombies.

“Grenade!” she shouted in warning. A moment later, it went off blasting the horde to kingdom come. There was a high pitched ringing that lingered in their ears after the explosion, but they couldn’t hang around to deal with it. They ran through the cleared path and busted through the now unlocked gate door. Claire shut it behind them and locked it back up so that the zombies couldn’t get in. Leon was now long gone, but at least they were safe in the department. Right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now in the police department, Claire and Veronica set off to find both Leon and Chris in hopes of getting out of town sooner rather than later. Only things are never that simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta be honest, not my best chapter but I had the need to publish it since I couldn't really figure out how to fix it in the way I wanted it to be. WHatever it's done.

Before heading into the station, the two girls searched around the fire escape stairway for any extra supplies left behind. They had found some extra ammo for Claire and also a toolbox that was left open on a trash can next to the door that led inside. Veronica took a peek inside it and found a hammer lying amongst the tools. The claw side would prove useful in stabbing the dead as an extra weapon, so she put it on her person. She also noticed a pile of wooden planks over by the stairs, but she left them there since she wasn’t sure what to use them for yet.

Once they were done searching, Claire led the way and carefully opened the door. It was not the welcome party that they were expecting. They were met with the gruesome sight of a pile of dead bodies lying in puddles of blood. It was splattered all over the walls and the metallic smell was intense. Some looked to be civilians but many were police officers. It was a massacre.

“Oh no!” Claire whispered in shock. Veronica covered her mouth and nose with one hand to block the stench, but it was so strong it lingered. If this part of the station looked like this, then what did this mean for the rest of it?  _ Is this even a good idea anymore? _

The place was dimly lit with only a few working emergency lights. Most of the windows, but one was boarded up and it gave Veronica a sinking feeling to see it uncovered. There was an office in front of them that looked lit up, but they could see someone staggering about inside. As they watched the person move, they realized that they weren’t alive.

Deciding to stall from going in there just yet, they turned their attention to another door to their right and upon opening it, they found a small office. Inside it, however, was an officer dead on the floor. Well...half an officer. 

It was only the torso of a caucasian young man and with how fresh the blood looked, Veronica figured he must’ve died not even a few hours ago. Maybe less. Seeing his guts spilled out made Veronica’s stomach roll and bile rise in her throat. She almost threw up but was able to stop herself when the dead man suddenly pushed up onto its arms and growled at them. 

Its eyes were a milky white as it stared them down and began crawling towards them. It was almost comedic to watch, but considering the circumstances, no one laughed. The girls looked at each other then back at the dead man. Veronica took out that hammer she had found and walked towards it.

“I got this one!” With that said, it was easy to plunge the claw into its brain. All movement stopped and it was dead for good. Just behind the desk it had crawled from was an open entryway that seemed to be clear of any other zombies. On the other side was the bottom half of the officer's body, only it looked like it had been already munched on by other zombies. Before they walked through to this section of the station, Claire noticed a slip of paper on the desk nearby. She picked it up and glanced over it thinking it could be something important. 

“Looks like it was torn out from a small notebook,” she noted. On one side were two messy sketches, one of a unicorn with a shield while the other on top of it looked like a lion. Beneath the unicorn was a code of some sort, but the last symbol was torn off with the page. If there was a similar code beneath the lion, it was unreadable because it was caked in dried up blood. The brunette turned the page over and saw half of a sketched-out plan on it. Veronica peeked over her shoulder to see and looked over the illustrations.

“Maybe this is a clue on finding a way out of the station. Maybe to one that isn’t infested with monsters?” she suggested.

“Maybe,” the other responded while slipping the paper into her jeans pocket. “If this part of the station looks this bad, maybe this place isn’t as safe as we thought. This plan might be our only way into getting to somewhere safer.”

“Ok. Well, the least we can do is search the rest of this area for supplies. We can keep an eye out for more of these pages! If we find Leon or Chris on the way, great! Hopefully, they’re around here somewhere.” 

“Sounds good to me. We’ll finish this floor then head towards his office. I know where it is. I’ll go first, you cover me from behind.” With somewhat of a plan in mind, they stepped over the dead policeman's body and began making their way through the entryway. Just past the threshold was a small breaker box on the wall that must’ve powered the gate that opened to this section. On the wall next to it was a knife stabbed into the ugly yellow wallpaper. Claire decided to take it since Veronica had her hammer.

Continuing forward, they walked around the corner to a corridor lined with windows. The rain splattered against the glass eerily against the quiet and it felt so exposed to the outside. At the end of the hall was a dead end with piles of random cleaning supplies, a lone door, and a staircase that led to a locked door. Where it would lead to, they didn’t know. Checking amongst the cleaning supplies, the girls found, to their surprise, a small bundle of fire grenade launcher rounds.

“Do you think they would have such a thing here?” Veronica asked while slipping the few large rounds into her pouch, just in case.

“You never know. This is a police station, after all. Any weapons we can find, we should really take.”

“Finders keepers,” Veronica mumbled dryly. 

Across from their findings was the lone door they had seen when walking in. Claire went first and twisted the knob, pushed the door in before aiming her flashlight and gun cautiously into the darkness. It was still very quiet, but it was also too dark to see inside. 

She slid her hand across the wall to switch the light on, revealing what looked like a break room. The walls were composed of emerald green wallpaper that looked washed out against the grey concrete trimming. There were a couple of tables with chairs, some lockers, another big box, and a dartboard on the wall. 

On the table was a blue plant, a typewriter, an old hat, and a radio. The fridge in the corner was the definite telling sign that this was a break room, and if that wasn’t it, the connecting room with bunk beds and a sink was. The room was surprisingly clean compared to the outside world, but they weren’t complaining. Thankfully, it was empty and the metal door could also be locked. This could be a designated safe room for them. 

“This looks nice,” Veronica said while setting her weapon down onto the table. Claire followed suit by putting away her gun and locking the door behind them. A quick five-minute rest wouldn’t hurt. It’s not like they were stalling or anything. Checking the lockers for supplies, they found a can of high-grade gunpowder and some ammo for Veronica’s gun. “Gunpowder? How do we use that?”

“Well for starters, we need another can to combine it with. Depending on what it’s combined with, it can make more ammo. Don’t worry! I know how to do it.”

“Shocking really,” the brunette joked sarcastically. Claire giggled at that as she walked into the room with the beds. Veronica found it was a nice sound to hear.

“After riding on a motorcycle for hours only to run through a zombie-infested city, a bed sounds so good right about now!” she said as she sat on one of the bottom bunks. The other girl joined her by sitting on the bed across from it. While it wasn’t a cloud to sit on, it was better than anything she had been on all day.

“You have no idea,” Veronica sighed tiredly before flopping back onto the mattress. It was meant to be a joke, but it was all too true once she fell onto it. Her eyes wanted to shut so badly. “I haven’t sat down in hours. I could really use a nap.” Hearing that piqued Claire’s interest.

“I’m really surprised you’ve survived this long. I mean, I’ve only been wandering around for like probably, what, an hour and I’ve almost gotten eaten like five times.” She watched as Veronica rolled onto her side to face her, propping her head up with her arm. The exhaustion was evident on her face.

“You’re telling me! I drove in sometime around 3 or 4 pm. It wasn’t even raining yet. You really don’t realize how much time has passed when you’re trying to survive something like this until it all goes dark.”

“You said something about coming here to see your friend, right? Did you ever find them?” 

“No. Her apartment building was infested with zombies. There was no way I could get in to check.” 

“But you still couldn’t leave?” Veronica shook her head.

“My car broke down just outside of the city, so I walked all the way here to find some help. Took me an hour too...Only I get to find the city in the middle of the outbreak, so one thing led to another and I was trapped here. I tried to find multiple ways out of the city for hours, but a lot of the roads are out or filled with zombies. No safe house would let me in and you’re the first person I was able to fully meet alive without a gun being pointed at my face.” 

“Jesus! And with no weapons, I’m guessing? I’m surprised you’re still alive!” Veronica rolled onto her back, her gaze staring holes into the mattress above her. The terrifying memories of evading those monsters replaying in her mind.

“Me too.” She paused for a moment, letting those words sink in. “I guess I’m pretty good at hiding and running. It was all I could do. Not exactly the most badass of tactics, but it’s better than being eaten alive.” Claire could see the other was starting to feel low, so she got up and grabbed the extra chair that was near her. She pulled it closer to the other bed and positioned it to sit on backwards, her legs on either side.

“For what it’s worth, you’ve made it this far on your own. That sounds pretty badass to me,” Claire said softly. Veronica turned her head to look over at her new companion. She gave a small smile and got one in return.

“Thank you, Claire. That’s really nice of you to say.”

“It’s no problem! We’re gal pals now, right?” she asked as she reached over and offered her pinky out to the other. Veronica giggled and hooked her own pinky around hers. The gesture was sweet and, honestly, it was the best thing to happen all day. She may not have known her long, but she cared very easily for others and after everything she had been through that day, she realized how much she took friends for granted.

“Absolutely!” 

After a moment, they pulled their hands back and sighed. Claire rested her chin on her arms while Veronica laid onto her back again and shut her eyes.  _ Just for a few more minutes.  _ Even though she was trying to relax, a sudden chill ran through her body.

Now that the adrenaline had gone down, the cold was seeping through her drenched clothes. She didn't exactly plan on running through the rain in a zombie-infested city. To say she was unprepared was a no brainer.

She rubbed at her arms to try and create some friction, but it didn’t do anything but make her feel even colder by pressing the wet fabric to her skin. Her teeth slightly chattered, even as she tried to fight the shivers but to no avail. Suddenly, the sound of the chair scraping against the floor caught her attention. She opened her eyes just in time to see Claire pulling the sheet off of the other bed then turning to her.

“What are you doing?” she asked while sitting up, her legs swinging over the edge of the bed.

“You look like you’re freezing over here,” Claire replied as she sat next to her before draping the sheet over her shoulders. “Looks like you need a little help warming up.” Blood rushed to Veronica’s cheeks as she pulled the fabric closer to her.

“Oh! T-thank you, but you really don’t have to do that.”

“Nonsense. It’s the least I can do,” Claire said while rubbing softly over Veronica’s arms to cause some friction. “I would lend you my jacket, but it’s just as wet on the inside. Sorry.” The heat from Claire’s hands was nice against the cold wet fabric, but the overall sweet action of trying to make her comfortable had Veronica warming up just as easily. Just the thought of Claire draping her with her jacket was enough for her to feel a flutter in her chest.  _ God, I am way too gay for this, _ she thought.

“I-it’s fine! Thank you.” Claire hummed softly as she pulled her hands away to rest at her sides. “What about you? Aren’t you cold?”

“Not really, but you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine! I’ve been through some tough situations before.” Veronica nodded in understanding as she gripped the sheet around her tighter. She internally debated on whether to share it, but before she could make a decision, Claire turned to her again.

“Feeling any better?” Veronica again nodded, her body temperature feeling a little more normal than before. “Good.”

They both knew they had to get going. They had been there for too long already and there was still a lot more work to be done. Allowing themselves these few minutes were nice, but they knew stalling wouldn’t get them anywhere out of the city any time soon. It was scary, but Veronica had a feeling that as long as she was at Claire’s side, they would be ok.

“We should go,” she said. Claire nodded in agreement and stood up from the bed. She let out a hand for the other and helped her up, leaving the sheet behind on the mattress. They took one last glance around the room for extra supplies and, to their surprise, they found a box of submachine gun ammo on the sink. 

"Ohoho! This place just keeps getting better and better!" Claire exclaimed as she put it into her pouch. The new ammo they kept coming across made Veronica nervous. These weren't just rinky-dink handguns they were going to find lying around. They were real weapons and the fact that she might have to use one was scary. But that was a bridge she would have to cross when they got there.

The two survivors stocked themselves back up and prepared themselves for the next part of their journey. They knew their mission: to explore the department and find other survivors, especially Leon and Chris. Then they’ll need to find the way out, hopefully with the help of the page of clues they had found. Claire got to the door and grabbed the knob, turning to her companion.

“You ready?”

“Let’s do this!”

The two girls carefully left the room with Claire leading and Veronica watching out from behind. They walked back the way they came from and ended up back in the body filled hallway from where they entered the building. Nothing seemed to have changed, but now they had a couple of choices on where to go next.

“So either we can go into the office where there is possibly a zombie or we can head down the pitch-black hallway. What do you think?” Claire asked. 

“Geez, I don’t like any of those choices.” She paused as she took in her environment to debate her choices. “I don’t really hear anything in the hallway, but it’ll be hard to see.” She gave it another moment of thought. “Let’s go through the office first and see what we can find. Then we can roundabout or something.”

“Ok. Looks like it’s open!” she said, nodding to the broken yellow chain at the foot of the door. They were about to reach the door when a zombie suddenly slammed itself against the window that Veronica noticed was not boarded up. After a few slams, the glass shattered letting it in. 

“Shit!” Claire raised her gun and shot an almost perfect headshot. The loud bang rang in Veronica’s ears as she watched the body fall to the ground, blood seeping out onto the floor from its head. After seeing the half-eaten officer in the other room, it wasn’t nearly as bad to see happen, but it still made her stomach a little queasy. That probably wasn’t a very good thing. She looked over at the broken window then remembered the boards outside.

“Wait! We should board that up! Hold on!” she said before running back outside. Some zombies had made their way to the gate and pawed at it hungrily, but they weren’t getting in. She quickly grabbed the boards and then picked out a few nails from the toolbox, putting an extra few into her pouch. 

Running back inside, she got to the broken window and set the boards down. Claire immediately got the idea and went to help. In no time, the window was safe. Just in time too as a zombie began trying to press against the wooden boards, but to no avail.  _ Hopefully, those things will hold up. _

With that done, the two slowly walked into the office and found it to be well lit and quite large. There was a lone officer staggering around the middle of the room, turning to them with empty eyes. It growled at them long enough for a bullet to pierce it between the eyes, the body falling to the floor with a loud thud. It happened so quickly that Veronica stood there in slight shock.

“Holy shit, Claire! Your aim!” Veronica blinked as she put away her own gun. Claire did the same and smirked at her.

“Thanks! You could say I’m a pro!” she winked playfully before turning to look at a desk. Veronica all but choked on her own spit at that. Getting a hold of herself, she took a good look over the room. All of the windows were thankfully boarded up, even with another zombie swiping at one of them hungrily. There was a dead officer next to one of the said windows where some ammo for Claire was found on him. 

Searching the room, the girls didn’t find much in terms of supplies and there were no other pages of clues. While Claire found more gunpowder cans, Veronica noticed a strange looking canister sitting on one of the desks. Picking it up, she looked over it curiously. It was blue and had a round pin attached to the top. Reading the label, it said that it was a flash grenade

“What does a flash grenade do?” she asked, lifting it up for Claire to see.

“It’s kinda like a grenade, but instead of  _ just  _ exploding like the one I have, it explodes with a really bright flash of light. It’s good for blinding and stunning whoever you throw it at. You should really take it. Just make sure to call out that you’re about to throw it and that it’s at a safe distance away from us. Oh, and don’t forget to close your eyes after you do!” Claire informed her. Veronica hummed in affirmation before hooking it on one of her belt loops for easy access.

“Well, I think we’ve searched this room enough, right?” she asked.

“Yeah. It was kind of a bust, but we still have a whole station to get through. Let’s go!” The two walked out a set of double doors on the other side of the office, finding a dark hallway that was empty and eerily quiet. The floor was flooded with water but still reeked of blood. Deciding to stay and look for any leftover supplies, the girls carefully took a turn in the hallway back towards the way they came in. 

The water splashed quietly beneath their shoes as they walked with guns out and flashlights on. The hall was lined with abandoned boxes of files and chairs. A wall with missing person photos was plastered above a trio of broken payphones and forgotten posters of encouragement. All were signs of a time when things were normal before the outbreak. It was sad to think about it.

Nearing the end of the hallway, they found an area that looked like it was used to house civilians. A couple of sleeping bags and empty cans of soda littered the floor near some vending machines. Peering around the corner, they glanced down a long hallway that looked empty, and after carefully searching the rest of the area, they deemed it safe. They were able to pick up some supplies dotted in certain rooms: a first-aid spray in the bathroom, some ammo in what looked like a press room, and in a supply closet.

Considering this section clear, they decided to move on and head towards the rest of the station. Back towards the double doors they came out of, they went the other way to find some stairs that led to an open entryway. There was a body lying just beside it in a pool of blood with its head smashed in and drag marks leading out into the main hall. Fresh bloody boot prints caught their attention amongst the carnage.

“Must be Leon’s. He must’ve gone out this way,” Claire pointed out, leading them onward. Compared to the dark and damp area they had just come from, instead, they were met with the warm light of the main hall. Walking in, Veronica caught herself staring in awe at the majesty of the place.

Coming from around the bend, she could see that on the far side of the room stood a giant statue of a woman holding up a flag and shield atop a wooden platform. It was the most notable thing in the room. The hall was three floors tall as she could see, with stone columns lining each floor. There was a large set of stairways on either side of the statue leading to the second floor, but not to the third. There must be a different way to get up there. The walls were tiled with granite and trimmed with black brick and dark wood paneling.  _ This place is too pretty to be a police station. _

The place looked empty despite the chaos in its wake. There were medical supplies scattered everywhere, clearly signs of survivors trying to board up the doors. However, there was still fresh blood splattered on the ground and that put them on high alert. This place didn’t seem to fare any better than the outside. Maybe this wasn’t the best choice after all, but it was all they had.

“Anybody here!?” Claire suddenly shouted, her voice echoing in the room. Veronica jumped in surprise at that before trying to listen for anybody to respond. Nothing.

“Hello?!” she tried calling out, but still no response. “Where’s Leon?” 

Right after she asked that growling came from somewhere near the statue. An undead officer hobbled over towards them, but something about him looked different than the others. He still looked...fresh. Claire waited till he got close enough to shoot before firing. It took a couple of shots before he finally went down. They could hear more of the undead groaning somewhere in the room, one upstairs, and one still somewhere near the statue. 

“Should we just take them out?” Veronica asked.

“Yeah. It would be a good idea to. Think you can do it?” Claire nodded down to the gun in the other’s hand. Suddenly feeling really nervous, Veronica looked at her gun and swallowed the growing lump in her throat, her grasp tightening around the handle. 

Claire noticed this and could see the hesitation on her face. Realizing how nervous Veronica really was, she gently placed a hand on her arm to gather her attention. Veronica glanced up at her to find a reassuring smile on Claire’s face. It seemed to give her the confidence boost she needed. 

“Y-yeah. I think so. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll take them on one at a time,” Claire assured her. “Think of it as target practice. I got your back!” 

The two carefully made their way towards the sounds of growling from behind the other side of the front desk. There they found one that was already beginning to head towards them near a door with a teal-colored spade insignia on it. 

Veronica swallowed nervously as she raised her gun and aimed. There wasn’t any time to think about it as she pulled back the hammer with her thumb. She could feel Claire at her side, watching the situation carefully, as well as trying to find the other zombie in the room.

“Ok. I can do this!” she whispered to herself as she tried to keep her hands from shaking. Even though they were at a good distance away, she couldn’t hesitate anymore. Zombies weren’t to be underestimated. Sometimes they moved faster than they looked.

“Take a deep breath, Veronica. You got this! But you gotta shoot now, ‘cause he’s getting close!” Claire warned. A gentle hand was placed on the back of her shoulder and that was enough for her. 

With that encouragement in mind, the brunette did just that and finally took a leap of faith. Her finger pressed down on the trigger, the recoil catching her by surprise as it shocked through her arms. A shot rang out in the air and a bullet whizzed straight into the zombie’s shoulder.

It wobbled at the impact but remained standing. With the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she shot again and again till her third shot finally hit the head. It fell back onto the floor and didn’t get back up. She pulled back, body slightly trembling at the rush and the scary feeling of power she had in her hands. Her finger pulled away from the trigger out of reflex as she lowered the gun.

“Nice job!” Claire said, smoothing her hand over Veronica’s shoulder blade comfortingly. “You ok? You’re a little shaky there.” Veronica took a deep breath before nodding and turning to look at Claire.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. The recoil was a little scary, but I’m ok. Sorry.” Claire shook her head.

“Don’t be. I know you were nervous. Being a first-timer isn’t exactly easy when you never wanted to shoot in the first place.”

“I guess, but we are not exactly in a situation where I can be nervous.”

“You’re right, but here’s the thing. You did it! Regardless of how scared you were, you faced your fear and did it! And, even though I haven’t known you long, for that I’m proud of you!” Veronica’s chest fluttered intensely as Claire smiled at her. She opened her mouth to respond when the sound of shrieking from upstairs caught their attention. Looking up at the second floor on the other side of the room, a zombie seemed to notice them and began to slowly limp their way towards the stairs.

They quickly jogged over to meet the monster halfway and Claire easily took it down. The room was safe...for now. It was quiet with only the sounds of the wind howling, the rain hitting the roof and the distant growls of the undead outside in the city. Leon was nowhere in sight, and the two girls could only hope they would find him somewhere in the station.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica and Claire begin their search through the station for Chris and the way out. With clues in hand, they're about to find out what lies within the shadows of the R.P.D.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't really know much about weaponry, so I'm basing everything here on the gameplay. The pacing of this chapter is a little weird because that's just how B scenario is, but just know that I'm aware that this isn't written as smoothly as it probably could be. Also, if you're wondering why things are already unlocked, worked with, etc, it's cause Leon got to them firs!

Deciding to search the room for supplies, the two survivors went back to the first floor and started near the giant statue. At its base was a small makeshift medical area, where black leather benches sat surrounded by hospital partitions and deserted medical supplies. None of which seemed to be of any use anymore. While Veronica searched amongst the boxes, Claire checked the door with the teal spade insignia on it only to find it locked.

“Looks like we’ll need a key to get in,” she mumbled before making her way over to her companion.

On one of the benches sat a small red notebook with bloody thumbprints all over it. Veronica picked it up, wiped it down with a nearby rag, then opened it to examine its contents. On the first page was a letter written in barely legible handwriting. Drops of blood stained the paper enough to cause some of the ink to smudge, but it could still be read. Glancing over it, it was clear whoever wrote it was in a rush, but couldn’t do it fast enough. She turned to Claire and began to read aloud.

“‘To whoever is left, 

If you found this notebook, then it means I’ve turned. I can feel the change happening and I know I don’t have much time left. If I can use these last moments to save whoever is still alive, then I’ll try my best to do so. This notebook has clues on finding a way out of the station and it's true. Fellow officer Kennedy was able to escape, but I told him to leave both me and this book behind. The kid was stubborn but he eventually listened. It’s too bad it was his first day on the force.’” She paused then looked up at Claire. “Officer Kennedy? Who’s that?”

“I think that’s Leon’s last name. He mentioned on the way here that he was a cop, but I didn’t realize this would be his first day!” Claire replied in disbelief.

“Poor guy. This letter must be from a coworker of his that was able to survive this long. Leon would’ve been the last person he’d see alive.”

“And he wouldn’t allow Leon to take him with him since he was infected.” Claire looked down at the book then back at Veronica in realization. “But, he also said that Leon was able to escape!” Veronica’s eyes widened in excitement.

“Then we have a chance! We just have to figure out the clues!” 

“What else does it say?” She looked back down and began reading again.

“‘The medallions you need are back where they’re supposed to be. There are people you can’t trust out here and lots of mindless zombies walking around. I learned that the hard way. I needed to be sure that the rookie had enough time to get out of here safely and that he wasn’t going to be followed. Just follow the clues and you’ll be out of here in no time. Good luck.’ - Lieutenant Marvin Branagh.’” 

“Branagh?” Claire questioned softly, the name clearly sparking something in her memory. Veronica glanced back up at her companion and nodded. Claire took a moment to think before looking over towards the body of the first zombie they had shot at. “I thought he looked familiar,” she murmured.

“Claire?” Said girl turned back to find Veronica looking at her questioningly.

“That zombie. I met Marvin a couple of times when I would come to visit my brother, but it wouldn’t be for very long since he was always busy. I didn’t even realize it was him,” she replied nodding over to the dead man’s corpse. Realizing what she was saying, Veronica gasped softly.

“Oh! I’m so sorry.” Claire sighed before shaking her head.

“It’s ok. I didn’t really know him that well, but my brother did. It’s just really sad.” Veronica reached over and placed a hand on Claire’s shoulder comfortingly. “But that doesn’t matter right now. We gotta stay focused. Didn’t it say that there was a way out?” Veronica gave a soft squeeze before dropping her hand back down to the book.

“It did! Leon was able to find it.” She turned the page to find familiar-looking drawings on it. It didn’t take her long to figure it out as she gasped in realization as to what it was. 

“It’s the notebook we needed! Hand me that page you found!” Claire reached into her pocket and handed the slip of paper over. Veronica slipped it into the book and matched up the drawings together. On one side revealed the whole plan for possibly getting out of the station via the Goddess statue next to them. On the other side was another illustration of a lady holding a jug and another code right beneath it. After looking it over, Veronica understood what it meant.

“I got it! The Goddess statue is our way out. Marvin mentions something about medallions and I think these are it,” she explained while holding the book out for Claire to see. She pointed to highlighted circles amongst the three illustrations. Then she drags her finger to the plan with the Goddess statue where three circles surrounded by question marks are drawn. “It looks like they go into the statue somehow.” Claire looks over at the wooden base and finds three circular holes that looked like something could slot into.

“That must be it! Now we just have to find these things that hold the medallions.”

“Right. A lion with a shield, a unicorn with a shield, and a woman with a jug. The codes must be to unlock them or something.”

“Ok. We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for them.” Claire sighed before smiling at her newfound friend. “Nice job! You’re really good at this!” Veronica giggled shyly as she put the notebook into her back pocket.

“Just trying my best! I do like a good puzzle,” she said before clearing her throat awkwardly. She was not really good with compliments, so she felt a little stuck in replying back. Claire chuckled at that before giving Veronica a few pats on the shoulder.

“Cute,” was all she responded with before walking back towards the front area. Veronica’s heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest. She quietly took in a deep breath before following her.

Deciding on continuing to search the room for supplies, they began to search near the front desk. While Claire checked the actual desk itself, Veronica looked through the piles of equipment nearby. To her luck, she found another first aid spray, which she took since Claire had the other one. Nothing else seemed to be of much help. They were either used or broken.

“Hey! Come look at this!” Claire called for her. Behind the desk, she was standing in front of a table with a computer on it and the screen had the R.P.D. logo flashing. Claire clicked a few buttons to get it working till the security camera feed popped up. Seeing movement in one of the cameras, she enlarged it for the both of them to see. That hallway looked familiar.

“Hey! We were just there!” Veronica pointed it out as the hallway with yellow wallpaper near their safe room. Walking into the frame was the blurry figure of a large man stomping towards the camera. His footsteps were so loud, you would think he was made of solid rock. Despite the poor quality, they could tell that he was very tall considering his head reached the camera at all. His body was very large with hands that looked like they could crush a watermelon. 

He was wearing what looked like a black leather trench coat with a matching fedora hat on top of its seemingly bald head. The girls watched in horror as the man looked up at them through the screen where they could see its pale grey face covered in markings. The blank stare it gave was chilling, and even more so when it pulled back a gloved fist and punched the camera’s lights out. Static was all that was left.

“Bet he’s not part of the rescue squad,” Claire muttered angrily. 

“What is he?!” Veronica whispered, horrified at the thought of dealing with something worse than the zombies. 

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to stick around and find out. We should go. We can search this room later.” Veronica nodded in agreement and followed Claire to an open entryway just across the room. Through it was what looked like a small reception area with rows of benches lying just across a set of windows that led into an office. On one of the benches sat a box of ammo for Veronica’s gun, much to her luck, but nothing else seemed to be left around besides a potted plant. 

A trail of blood and long scratch marks led behind a wooden divider to a lone door that presumably opened to the west part of the station. As the girls walked up to it, something large and fast crawled across the window next to them with a growl. The sound of a broken window from somewhere in the station indicated that whatever it was, was now in the building. They couldn’t make out what exactly it was, but it was no ordinary animal.

“What was that!?” Claire stopped them both to listen for any more sounds in case something else was closing in on them. Veronica felt her heart stop cold at the sound of muffled hissing from behind the door they needed to go through. 

“Claire, w-what is that?!” she whispered, too afraid to speak any louder.

“I don’t know, but we have to go in there.”

“Maybe we should look for another way in?” Claire opened her mouth to say something when the sound of distant thudding from the other wing of the department caught their attention.

“I don’t think we really have a choice right now. Let’s just take this slow and maybe we can sneak past whatever it is.” Veronica wracked her head for any other solution and came up empty. She gave a swift nod while taking out her gun. The two girls prepared themselves before Claire took the doorknob in her hand. She slowly turned it and pushed the door open a crack to peek inside. With no sign of immediate danger, they both walked in and silently shut the door behind them.

Veronica swallowed the growing lump in her throat at the sight of the long dark hallway lying ahead of them. It was lit only by the outside lamps through boarded-up windows and a distant light lying on the ground near the end of the hall. It was lit over a body that was slumped against the wall but she couldn’t tell whether it was truly dead or not.

The air smelled much worse there compared to the main hall she was just in. Trying not to gag at the odor of blood and decaying flesh, they began to carefully walk down the hallway. They could hear their shoes squelching against the tile beneath them. The sound of hissing that they had heard a moment before was louder now, its sound echoing in the wide space. Whatever it was seemed to be getting closer as well as the scraping of something sharp along the walls. 

They found the source when they reached another hallway halfway through that was blocked off with tables and chairs. Crawling along the wall was a creature on all fours, with giant claws that latched onto the wall for purchase. It was too dark in the room to actually see what it was, but they didn’t want to catch its attention. Claire decided to turn off her flashlight and continued walking past it towards the other end of the hall. The screech the creature gave was unsettling and it made Veronica sweat nervously.

Reaching the end, the floor and walls were splattered with blood. Lying beside the body that was slouched against the wall, was a flashlight, which she eagerly took to light her way in the darkness since Claire already had one. The guy didn’t move which was a good sign, so perhaps, it was truly dead. The sound of static buzzing from its police radio was distracting though in such a cramped hallway. She could only hope it wouldn’t attract any more of the dead.

Turning the corner, another loud hiss came from the direction they were going to. The bright light on the floor made it hard to see ahead in the darkness, but she could only make out so much. On the floor was the body of another officer only his head was split in half and it looked like it had hit the floor pretty hard. Veronica decided to not look any closer than she needed to.

Suddenly, Claire reached for the brunette's arm and pulled her out of the light to hide in the shadows. She looked up at the ceiling causing Veronica to do so as well and Veronica felt like she was going to puke. It was another one of those creatures crawling along the ceiling effortlessly. With the aid of the light, she could make out what it finally looked like. It resembled a human, only larger and with the skin completely gone. It was like a human body turned inside out. It had very large sharp claws on each appendage and sharp teeth beneath an exposed brain on its head. 

It would screech and sniff the air before opening its mouth, releasing a long slimy tongue with a pointed end. It licked around its mouth like an animal before continuing past the girls. Despite being able to see it, it didn’t seem to see them, but they weren’t going to take any chances. Claire tapped Veronica’s arm and signaled them to keep moving. Fighting the overwhelming urge to throw her guts up, she nodded and the two continued to quietly walk down the hallway.

Too nervous to say anything in case another monster showed up, the two girls carefully passed by a broken window surrounded by broken caution tape where the floor was drenched from the rain pouring in. Trying not to draw attention, they took each step along the water slowly so that they wouldn’t make a splash. When they finally reached the next corner, they found the hallway cut off once more, leaving the only way forward through a pair of double doors. 

Happy to see a way out of this dark hallway of death, they hurried a little faster towards them only to stop as hungry hands reached out at them from barred up windows. They both jumped in surprise as they watched a pair of zombies growl at them through the bars. Veronica slapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from making noise as they scurried into the next room. Claire shined her light over the room and was relieved to find no monsters anywhere in it.

“Fucking hell, Claire! What were those things?” Veronica hissed, finally allowing herself a moment to comprehend what they had just encountered.

“I have no idea! You’ve been here longer, you’ve never seen them before?”

“No! The worst things I’ve seen were zombie dogs! Not skinless monsters like that!”

“Zombie dogs!?” Claire’s eyes widened in disbelief. Veronica looked at her with exhaustion evident on her face.

“Girl, this outbreak didn’t just infect humans. The amount of undead animals that have chased me through this city really shows how easy it is to get eaten. Dogs are fast.” Claire blinked at her as she processed this new information. 

“Well shit.” Veronica nodded in understanding before finally taking a glance over the room.

Considering themselves safe, the girls relaxed but decided to keep their voices down just in case. It was a large room that they figured may have been used as a meeting room at some point. The black and white tiled floors were filthy, but it was far less bloody than the outside. A dull light flickered on in the opposite end of the room showing desks and chairs piled up against the left wall. Claire found some ammo on a random desk before walking up to a wide dirty chalkboard that stood right under the light. Taped to it was a large piece of the map to the station.

“Yes!” Veronica whispered as they took it down to look over. 

“Looks like it only shows the first floor, but at least it’s something.”

“Do you know the layout of this place at all by any chance?” Claire shook her head.

“I only know where the S.T.A.R.S. office is. The way I was taken before was supposed to be through the hallway back there,” she nodded her head back to the double doors. “But since it’s blocked off, it looks like we can go through this door and out this way,” she explained while pointing on the map. “We can check all of these rooms for supplies and keep an eye out for Chris before heading up to the second floor. That’s where it is.”

“Ok. That sounds like a plan. Looks like it should be no problem getting there,” Veronica said nodding to the broken yellow chain at the foot of the door onward. “Since I have the notebook, you can hold onto the map.” 

Claire nodded in agreement as she folded it up and placed it into her pouch. Walking over to the door, Veronica barely had her hand on the knob when Claire noticed something out of the corner of her eye. There were a few scattered papers on a desk nearby that looked official, but it was the messy scribbles on it that seemed out of place enough to catch her attention. Maybe there would be something about Chris on it.

“Wait,” she said, stopping the other girl while she went and picked one up to look at. Glancing over it, she realized that they were notes left behind that were written during the outbreak.

“What is it?” Veronica walked over to stand next to Claire, who decided to read it aloud for the both of them.

“‘Record of Events. September 25 th : We’re turning the station into a temporary shelter due to the massive sudden outbreak. All police personnel have been instructed to make the safety of the citizens their top priority as we try to accommodate as many of them as possible.’”

“That was just a few days ago.” Claire nodded while picking up another page.

“‘Addendum. One of the refugees attacked us in the middle of the night, resulting in the death of 1 officer and injuring 3 others. The person in question was quickly restrained. We believe this was simply a case of someone snapping under intense stress.'" She paused, eyebrows raising in concern. “An officer?” Veronica noticed the change in demeanor so she reached up to link Claire’s arm in hers.

“Keep going. I’m sure it’s not Chris.” Claire nodded while swallowing the lump in her throat.

"'September 26 th : A mob attacked the station today, resulting in a number of casualties. A few survivors were able to make it safely behind the emergency shutters, but surrounded as we are, it’ll be hard for any of us to escape this place. We’re not sure we can fix any of our comm equipment, so we remain cut off from the outside world.’” Claire stopped reading, her hands starting to shake at the thought of her brother going through all of this. Taking the paper in her fingers, Veronica turned the page and tilted it more for her to see as she continued for her.

“‘September 27 th : There was another clash on the west side of the station around 1 pm...Twelve people died, and there is only a handful of survivors left. Everything is falling into disarray in here. David Ford.’... Holy shit.” She looked up to see Claire staring at the page, her expression full of unease. “Claire? Are you ok?” Scared eyes finally looked over at Veronica.

“God, Chris. What if he-?” Veronica shook her head and turned to face Claire fully. She reached out and gently grasped her hands, her eyes gazing into Claire’s.

“No. Claire, we have to keep our heads up about this. We still don’t know what happened yet. It’s still possible that Chris is still alive. We’re going to find him and we’re all going to get the hell out of here! So, please, stay strong for the both of us, ok?” she pleaded. 

She needed Claire to be there with her at that moment. It was heartbreaking to see the fear for her brother on her face since Veronica knew all too well that she would do anything for her own sister. Sibling bonds are one’s not to be messed with. That was something they had in common. In that moment, they only had each other, how could she not care about her? Claire took in a deep breath before nodding.

“Yeah, ok! You’re right! I’m sure he’s around here somewhere! We haven’t even seen him as a zombie yet either, so chances are that it’s possible that he’s ok.”

“Exactly. It’s going to be ok, Claire. Are you still with me?” Claire gave Veronica’s hands a soft squeeze. 

“Yeah. I’m with you.”

“Good. Let’s keep moving. We have a lot of ground to cover!” She gave another final squeeze before they dropped their hands. Veronica decided to go first, her gun drawn as she slowly pushed open the door into the next room. It had no name, according to the map, but it looked like it was just a small storage room. It was deemed safe after a quick look around.

There was a desk right when they walked in and a whiteboard that stood against the wall behind them. On it was written ‘Locker Room CAP’ with the three letters circled. Glancing around, there were messily stocked up storage shelves and chairs piled up in a corner. On the other side were two doors, one with a red heart insignia, and the other that should lead them to the next hallway, according to the map. Both doors were locked with the heart door needing the right key and the other was deadbolted on their side.

On one of the chairs piled in the corner, Claire found another flash grenade, which she hooked up to her belt since Veronica already had one. There was also another potted plant sitting on top of a filing cabinet. While searching the desk for anything, Veronica found a couple of markers sitting unused. She picked up two and handed one to Claire.

“Just in case we need to make any sort of notes,” she explained before looking around, the heart door and the whiteboard catching her attention. “Like those! I have a feeling that those doors with the shapes are important.”

“You noticed that too?” Claire asked while taking out the map. Veronica nodded while taking out the little book to write the locker room code.

“Every door with a shape on it has been locked so far. I can only assume that there are specific keys for them. So far there was the blue spade and now the red heart.”

“There’s also a green club door. We passed it while we were sneaking by the monsters out in the hallway. It looks like both that and the heart door lead to the ‘Records Room’,” Claire explained while drawing some markings on the map.

“Interesting. Something to keep an eye out for if the rooms are worth going through.” Claire hummed in agreement before folding up the map and putting it away.

“Alright. Let’s keep moving.” She decided to lead the way as she unbolted the only door they could unlock. Carefully, she walked through and out into the West wing of the department. Looking around, the room was splattered in blood, even up towards the ceiling. Veronica had a feeling that it had to do with the monsters they had seen. The girls tried not to talk too much until they knew the room was clear of any monsters, which seemed to be the case so far. Many of the zombie’s looked like they had already been dealt with.

“Must’ve been Leon’s handiwork,” Claire mumbled as she walked over to the vending machines. The glass was shattered leaving the snacks to be free for anyone to take. She grabbed a couple of protein bars that were still wrapped up and handed one to Veronica. “Just in case.” Veronica took it, though she felt like she didn’t have much of an appetite.

“Oh, by the way, I heard from a couple of survivors, that didn’t try to kill me, that I should avoid the water since they didn’t know how the outbreak started. WE should probably stick to water bottles if we come across any.”

“That sounds like a good idea, but I don’t see any easily accessible machines here. I don’t think they work.” Veronica shrugged in response. She was thirsty, but she could wait.

There were two other doors on either side of the room and a hallway on either side as well. A sign leading to the one across the way read ‘Stairs’. That probably would lead to the second floor like they needed. The hallway next to them was dark and seemed to be the same blocked off one they couldn’t pass through before. Veronica decided to be brave and search around the barricade for anything. To her luck, she was able to find a box of ammo sitting by a real dead body near it. She figured that out with a lot of poking and kicking. 

Back at the junction, the girls’ looked between the two other doors. One of them was labeled ‘West Office’ and the other was labeled ‘Safety Deposit Room’. Veronica didn’t know what that meant, but it looked important since the door was made of metal. 

Deciding on the Safety Deposit Room, they walked in to find it surprisingly well lit and empty of any zombies. The walls were made of concrete and in the middle of the room, there was a keypad in front of a long aisle of lockers. Veronica looked at the keypad and noticed that the 2 and 3 buttons were missing.

“Can’t open any lockers with a two or three in it. Are there any that we can open?” she asked. Claire went down the aisle and back around the other way. 

“I only see locker’s 106 and 109, but there’s also a weapons locker in the back that has a grenade launcher. If we can find the keycard to access it, we can finally use those flame rounds we found.” Veronica nodded as she typed in the numbers, but didn’t respond. While she has fired a gun, the thought of using a powerful weapon like that was scary. Claire went to retrieve the items and brought back some ammo for her and a roll of film. 

“I’m not sure what to do with this to be honest, but it’s labeled ‘Commemorative Photo’ on it,” Claire said, lifting the film into view.

“Let me see,” Veronica held her hand out for it, which Claire didn’t hesitate to give. Looking over the canister, Veronica hummed to herself. “Why would you need to be locked up? Maybe it’s important! Do you know if there’s a dark room anywhere in the building?” Claire took a moment to think about it before taking out the map.

“Looks like there’s one just down the hall from here.”

“Ok. Maybe we’ll take a look at what this is for,” Veronica said while putting the film in her pouch.

“Do you know how to develop photos?”

“Kind of. My friend was a photographer, so she showed me a few basic things. It’s not much, but I can at least get the photo to be visible.”

“Nice! That’ll be really helpful if the film turns out to be important!” 

The two girls exited the room and decided to head into the West office. Carefully opening the door, they found a large dark room, barely lit by the lights of the small side office that most likely belonged to the head of the unit. It was mostly filled with desks in the center and at one of those desks, a zombie was leaned over as if sleeping. 

As soon as it heard the door open, however, it raised its head and tried to stand, but Claire was quick to stop it with a few shots. While she was reloading, another zombie began stumbling out of the office and Veronica took it upon herself to take it down. 

Her hands still shook as she shot, but her aim was getting better. She still hated the sensation though. With it down, the office was deemed safe. The two began searching around for clues and supplies, and while it was easier to find the supplies, the clues for getting out of the station were harder to come by. 

On a desk was a can of gunpowder and a note on how to use it. She told Claire, who was picking out a box of ammo from a locker, about her findings and read them out to her. Claire handed the ammo to her as she explained how to combine the cans for future use. It was a lot to take in, but Veronica was a fast learner. With what they had, they were able to create something new, which was acid grenade rounds for the launcher they needed to get.  _ Interesting.  _

While Veronica checked the desks for anything, Claire searched the side office. There she found a safe, but no code to get in. Taking out her map, she made a note on it’s location. While she did that, Veronica found a note sitting on the desk of someone named Elliot Edward. Picking it up, she read through it quietly to herself. 

“Huh. Hey, Claire!”

“Yeah?”

“There’s a note here! It’s from a guy named Elliot!” Claire stopped what she was doing to listen as Veronica walked into the office to read it aloud. “‘September 28 2:30 am. It’s down to just me and 3 others. No weapons…no ammo…and too many skirmishes have drained us mentally and physically. We’re not gonna make it…Officer Phillips once suggested we escape through the sewers. Apparently, there’s a secret tunnel under this place left over from its museum days.’” She paused. 

“Museum days? This place was a museum?” She arched an eyebrow and noticed Claire shrug before continuing to read. “‘I brushed her idea off before, but now, it’s not sounding all that bad. Yeah, there’s no proof there’s even a tunnel or that the sewers aren’t infested with zombies, but I don’t wanna sit here and wait to die, either. It’s a long shot, but I’m gonna try to find out what I can about that tunnel. – Elliot Edward.’ God, this was just yesterday.”

“Elliot must’ve been the one who wrote down these clues! Leon figured it out, so the tunnel  _ must  _ be real.”

“Yeah, or the only real way out is through the sewers. Do you think they’re any better than running through the city?”

“For our sake, let’s hope so.” Veronica nodded as she turned back to the room and set the papers back on the desk. Shining her light around, she noticed something hanging down from the ceiling. It was shiny blue party streamers with plastic stars at the ends. There was a banner facing away from her, hiding what the occasion was for and it made her curious.

“That’s nice. Someone was having a party,” she smiled as Claire walked out of the office. As sad as it was to think about, it was nice to see that people were celebrating something happy before this whole mess began. She walked over to see what it said then shined her light up at the banner. Her smile immediately faded once she realized what it was for. 

“Veronica?” Claire walked over and followed the other girl’s line of sight. Realizing what it was for, she sighed sadly before looking down at the floor in disappointment. The banner read ‘Welcome Leon’ in bright yellow lettering surrounded by the streamers. It must’ve been for when Leon would start at the department. 

“Oh, Leon,” Veronica whispered as she lowered her light. She felt terrible for the guy even if she only barely met him about an hour ago.

“Poor guy. His whole career was basically destroyed because of this thing!”

“That’s really sad! I hope he’s ok.” 

“Considering that he got out, I’m sure he’s fine,” Claire sighed. “I hope he didn’t see this though. I remember when Chris was first welcomed here, how excited he was. It hurts to think about what Leon’s going through right now.” Veronica nodded, shining her light down to an open desk right in front of them. Her flashlight lit up a clean wooden desk and a shiny plaque with his name sitting on it. 'Leon S. Kennedy'. She walked over and picked the plaque up to look at it. 

“I think he did,” she said before setting it back down. “Sorry, Leon. We’re going to look through your stuff.” She opened a couple drawers for anything useful and, to her luck, found something. It was a strange looking part of a gun. “What’s this?”

“Oh! That’s a speed loader!” She looked over it and asked for Veronica’s gun. “Looks like it’s for your model!” She fiddled with it before adding it to the gun and handing it back.

“What does it do?”

“It helps you reload faster! I think Leon left it behind for us. He asked me about my gun when we were driving here.”

“Nice! Thank you, Leon!” Veronica said while putting her gun away. Claire flashed her light around once more and noticed another spade insignia door at the top of some steps. After looking at the map, she figured it would lead back into the main hall. 

“This would be a great way to get back without going through that hallway full of monsters. We really need to find this key!” she noted. 

“It has to be around here somewhere! C’mon! Let’s keep looking! We’ve got a station to get through!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls continue to search the West Wing of the department and find that getting to the S.T.A.R.S. office is harder than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so yall know, I have no idea how to develop photos lol there will be lots of making shit up lol

Veronica and Claire walked out of the West office and back out into the hallway. Considering this small section of the first floor explored, they decided to continue on and finish it. As they carefully headed down the long marbled hallway, they could see that there was a window right at the end that was boarded up. 

A lone zombie was standing just on the other side in a daze before slamming itself against the boards when it noticed them. It was no threat, however. Drawing closer, they realized the window sat at the base of the winding staircase leading up to the other floors. 

They were about to go up to them when Veronica saw a lone door just across from them. Remembering the film that they had found, she tugged on Claire’s sleeve, a little nervous to speak since they didn’t want any unwanted attention. However, just as they were about to walk over to it, they heard a screech come from above them. 

They both looked up in time to see a zombie lean over the edge of the banister of the second floor. It reached for them from there before it tipped over it, plummeting down at them. It made a loud thud against the floor that would make any normal person sick before starting to get back up. __

_ The one time I would ever want to see someone actually die from falling, they don’t.  _ Veronica quickly ran over and kicked the zombie back down before it could stand. She took out her trusty hammer and stabbed the claw into its head, killing it permanently

“Gotta watch our ammo,” she whispered as she put her weapon back. Claire gave her a nod before they both finally made their way over to the door. Since Veronica was closer, she went first to carefully peek inside. The room was dark, but they quickly found it to be empty. Veronica closed the door behind them and locked it while Claire walked across the room to turn on the light. It was small and plain, but it was safe. 

In the middle of the room was a desk with a book and a lone typewriter sitting in the middle unused. There were lockers sitting against the wall and a coat hanger with dusty jackets hanging from it. In the far corner sat another big black box, similar to the one out by where they had met. Since the walls were concrete and that the metal door could be locked, they considered it as another safe room to go to. It felt like they were in some sort of fucked up video game.

On the other side of the room was an entryway that led to the darkroom that they needed. It was very small compared to the room it was connected to and, of course, dark. There was a lone red light shining down onto a sink holding the components to expose unused film. A potted plant with red leaves sat on a cabinet containing different chemicals, which they thought was strange but ignored. Veronica took out the film they had found from her pouch and looked at her companion.

“Let’s see if I can get this thing to work,” she said before rolling up her sleeves. Amongst all of the supplies, she was happy to find a pair of gloves to use, since she didn’t want to have to wash her hands with possibly contaminated water afterward. Once on, she got to work on the photo, but found herself pushing her hair back a lot from getting in the way.  _ Ugh! I forgot to bring a hair tie!  _ Just as she had that thought, however, a pair of warm hands reached over her and gently pulled her hair back.

“Here! This will help!” Claire said before putting Veronica’s long hair into a low ponytail with a black hairband. The brunette felt her heart skip a beat as the blood rushed up to her cheeks. This was an innocent gesture and all she could think about was how intimate it was. Soft hands playing with her hair was definitely a weak spot.

“Oh! Thank you! I don’t have any hair ties on me,” she said while trying to play off her blush.

“It’s no problem! I have a few extra on me, so you can keep this one!”  _ Oh. _

“Thank you, Claire! That’ll be very helpful!” With her hair out of the way, she continued to do the job. While she did that, Claire leaned against the wall in waiting.

“So, uh, if you don’t mind me asking, where are you from?” she asked. Veronica glanced over to answer.

“Oh, I live over in California. Near the Los Angeles area,” she replied before turning back. 

“Really?! That’s really far from here!” Claire responded, her eyes wide in surprise. “Did you really drive from all the way over there?”

“I did,” Veronica nodded. “My friend had just moved here with her dog after graduating from college and I wanted to visit and see her new place. So, I decided to road trip it and look at what ended up happening. I did try to call her at a gas station just outside of town, but no one answered. I thought they were just busy, but obviously, that wasn’t the case. Though with such a long drive, it’s no wonder my car broke down.” Claire hesitated for a moment before responding.

“Yeah, I guess so...Hey, um, I’m really sorry about your friend. I hope she was able to make it out somehow.” While it was a nice thought, Veronica knew deep down inside that she didn’t, but she pushed that thought away to keep her head level. Now was not the time to start grieving, that would have to wait until later.

“I hope so too. Thank you,” she sighed. Claire stuffed her hands into her pockets while leaning her head back against the wall.

“On another note, though, that’s really cool that you live in L.A.! I visited once or twice while on vacation from school, but don’t tell my brother,” she smirked. Veronica smiled at the thought. “It was really nice over there.”

“Well sunny California will never disappoint with the weather until you have a heatwave and you desperately want it to rain. Then you’re out of luck,” she replied. They both giggled at that, the air around them lightening up from the current situation. It was a nice reprieve, even if only for a moment. “What about you? Where do you live?”

“Oh, not that far from here! About a state over near where I go to school. It’s a close enough distance to visit my brother here, but far enough to have my privacy. He really doesn’t need to know what I do in my spare time.” 

“I totally get it! I’m still in school too and live with my parents. Going out to have fun with friends can sometimes be tricky.” Claire nodded in agreement while thinking out her next sentence carefully.

“Yeah. It can be frustrating sometimes!... So, do you have a boyfriend waiting for you back in L.A.?” Veronica could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as she was not prepared for that question with the current state of her feelings. She had never been so happy to be doing something else to keep her mind occupied.

“No. Not really.”

“What about a girlfriend?” 

Veronica froze and turned to look back at Claire in surprise. Despite it being an innocent question, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was a revealing moment. Their eyes met and Veronica felt her tongue feel like lead in her mouth. She was also not exactly sure how to respond due to their current predicament, but she didn’t feel like Claire would be upset with her answer.

Her thoughts flew around her head at a hundred miles per hour with questions and scenarios. Was Claire in the same boat as her in terms of liking girls or was she just an ally? Claire didn’t seem to be the type to be an asshole about that. Would this be a bad time to say something? What would happen if she did, considering the small crush she had on the other girl?  _ Should I even be having hope about this?  _ Claire seemed to sense the uncertainty in her.

“What? You never know nowadays. People have their preferences!” Veronica internally sighed in relief before quickly turning back to her work. At least, Claire was understanding and for a moment she was almost compelled to tell her, but she couldn’t seem to do it.  _ What am I afraid of? I guess being stuck in the closet doesn’t help with things. _

“You’re absolutely right,” she answered quickly with a nod. “Uh, no. I’m a single pringle!” she said before clearing her throat. “Do you?”

“No. Not really. My last little fling ended about a month ago and it really didn’t work out, so I decided to take a break.”  _ That was really vague in terms of gender, but she’s single!... I should really not get my hopes up here! _

“Ah, I see,” Veronica said before finishing her work with the flip of a switch, leaving the room bathed in red light. With what just happened, she really wanted to ask if Claire was into girls, but it just wouldn’t come out. So, instead, she turned and took off her gloves. “Well, we can finish this conversation later. Now, all we have to do is just wait. This could take a minute.” 

To waste some time, the two walked back out into the next room where they began searching for any supplies. They didn’t find much in any of the lockers, only a lone can of gunpowder. But there was a book lying open on the table that did catch Veronica’s attention. It was open to a page on medicinal herbs, so she began to skim through it. She hummed as she took in the information.

“Whatcha got there?” Claire asked, walking up from behind to glance over her shoulder. Veronica held up the book for her to see.

“It’s a book on medicinal herbs that grow around here in the Arklay mountains. It says that there are three types that could be really beneficial to one’s health and, considering the situation we're in, this could be really helpful! But looking at the pictures, I feel like I’ve seen this plant before.” Claire looked over them and hummed in agreement.

“You know what? I think I have too! I think there’s a red herb here in the darkroom,” she told her before jogging over to grab the potted plant. The two girls looked between it and the pictures before coming to the same conclusion. “Looks like it’s an herb. Should we take some of the leaves?” Veronica thought about it for a second. 

“Well, the red herb only works if combined with a green or blue herb, so unless we find-,” she stopped herself mid-sentence as a thought popped into her head. “Wait...now that I think about it. I have seen the green herb. A couple of times, actually, here in the station!”

“Yeah, you’re right! I’ve seen them too! There was one back near the reception area and in that storage room!”

“Not just there. I think I saw one right outside this room!” Veronica exclaimed before setting the book down and walked over to the door. She carefully peeked outside to make sure there were no zombies around then glanced down at the floor. There was indeed a potted plant with green leaves. She quickly brought it inside their safe room and compared it to the pictures in the book. “This is a green herb, alright!”

“Now that we have it, we can also take the red herb!” The two girls began picking leaves off of the plants and crushed them into a powder. They put it into a plastic baggy they had found amongst the film stuff, and Veronica was designated to holding it. 

“So, there are three herbs, right? What does the book say they do exactly?” Claire asked. Veronica looked over the book then decided to just tear the page out for them to take.

“It says that the green herb heals basic injuries, the blue treats poisons and the red one is only useful when combined with the other two. It basically makes the other two stronger but doesn’t do anything by itself. But it doesn’t say how to use them.”

“I guess we’ll just have to figure that out when the time comes,” Claire shrugs. With the room thoroughly explored, the girls prepared themselves for going back out. The picture still had less than an hour to develop, so they would have to return eventually. 

Carefully walking out of the room, they looked up the long winding staircase leading up to both the second and third floor. They could barely make out the sound of gurgling coming from somewhere above them, but they didn’t know where from. The duo glanced at each other before starting their trek upwards. Coming up to the second floor, they found some ammo lying in a puddle of blood by a closed-off shutter. Clearly, that way was not going anywhere. 

In the other direction, they came across a door that said it was the men’s locker room, but they didn’t walk in. Instead, Claire gasped softly before running past it. Veronica quickly followed and realized why. The hallway was blocked with a giant blockade with seemingly no way through. Claire took out her map and hastily looked over it, but considering that it was only for the first floor, it was useless.

“This hallway was supposed to lead us to the S.T.A.R.S. office!” she huffed before folding the map back up. “We’ll have to find another way through.”

“There’s gotta be more than one way to get there. Maybe…” Veronica glanced around and saw the stairway to the third floor. “Maybe we can go up and around! It’ll take a little longer, but hopefully, it’ll be open!”

“Good idea! Let’s go!” 

They went back the way they came and continued on up the stairs. As they took each step, they found it was eerily quiet. Besides their footsteps, they could only hear the rain hitting the windows around them and the low creak of the chandelier swinging slightly from the ceiling. They didn’t hear any more zombie noises, which confused them since they had heard it before.  _ Maybe it had left?  _ That thought put Veronica on edge.

Reaching the third floor, they found another box of ammo sitting among some boxes then noticed the debris on the floor. At the end of the hall was a padlocked locker standing in front of another blockade, but right next to it was a wall that looked like it was smashed through. Chunks of brick and concrete were spilled out onto the floor, but it was the immense size of the hole that was strange. That and the shadow of someone standing in the light coming from the room made the brunette nervous.

They carefully drew closer, but before they could relax at the prospect that the shadow wasn’t a danger, something leaped out at them. Claire shouted in surprise as a zombie came at her, hungry hands grabbing at her arms. She grunted in the struggle as her gun was knocked out of her hands. But before Veronica could even do anything, Claire reached behind her and grabbed her knife. She plunged it into the zombie’s head and shoved the body away from her as soon as it grew limp. 

“Holy shit, Claire! Are you ok?” Veronica asked while picking up Claire’s gun to hand back. The taller took it in gratitude as she nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m ok,” she breathed before reaching down to take her knife back. “Just came outta nowhere!”

“I never thought zombies could surprise you like that! That was so weird!”

“I didn’t even hear it! We gotta be more careful if they turn out to be smarter than they look.” Veronica nodded in agreement as they walked into the messy room. It was a small office with many bookshelves and a desk. On said desk was a lit lamp with a miniature mannequin standing in front of it, the source of the shadow. There was also a key sitting on it that was quickly picked up by Veronica. She examined it and noticed that one end of the key had a teal colored spade on it.

“A key! Clair, look!”

“Nice! You found it!”

“Yeah! Maybe there really is more than one key for each shape,” she suggested as she put it into her pouch. It was starting to get noticeably full, and she was hoping they would come across another pouch soon. 

“It would make sense! At least we have this one so we can get back to the main hall easily.” With that said, Claire slowly opened the next door ahead, hoping that it led past where the path was blocked. The two girls both walked into a dark cramped hallway, light only coming in from the window near the end of it. It was really dusty and cold, the only sound being the wood creaking beneath their feet. The chill air made the back of Veronica’s neck shiver, so she took down her ponytail and slipped the hairband around her wrist. 

There was only one path to take since the blockade was to their left, so straight it was. They carefully turned the corner to find another cut off hallway. The end of it was blocked by some boxes and it seemed like the only way through was through a door that sat next to a cart of books. Deciding to check the boxes, Claire walked over and was surprised to find a note written by someone in a rush. 

“What does it say?” Veronica asked from behind. Claire turned to her and began to read aloud. 

“‘To any survivors, Consider this a gift for anyone still unfortunate enough to be alive. Keep your eyes peeled for those creepy fucks that look like they were skinned alive- ‘lickers’,” we call ‘em.”’ Veronica’s eyes widened as images of skinless monsters crawling on the ceiling came to mind.

“Lickers?! You mean those things downstairs?”

“‘They’re blind as bats, but their hearing more than makes up for that. So long as you don’t run around like a total idiot, guns a-blazing, you should be able to slip right by them...probably. Either way, make like my grandma and creep around as slow as possible around ‘em, yeah? Anyway, not that I wanna go, but duty calls. That, and I’ve got a friend to avenge. - David.”’ Claire handed the small slip of paper to Veronica for her to see. 

“Holy shit,” she whispered as she read over the words. “It has to be talking about those monsters we saw. They looked like they were turned inside out, all muscle.”

“And all claws. The tongue must be able to hurt somebody if they’re called ‘Lickers’,” Claire suggested as she took a look out of a nearby window. She didn’t really see anything in the darkness of the city besides the destruction on the streets.

“Jesus. What else do we have to worry about in this city?”

“Who knows at this point. Let’s just hope this is the worst of it.” Veronica had a fleeting thought that it probably wasn’t. 

“Well, at least we know they’re blind. All we have to do is just sneak by them, right?”

“Seems like it. We did it before, so that seems to be the strategy with getting by them.” 

“We just have to be careful. Who knows how many of those things are running around here!” Veronica noted as she slipped the paper into her back pocket. 

“Right. Before we enter any room, we should listen first. Those things are loud.” 

Taking their words to heart, they stood quietly outside the nearby door before walking in when deemed safe. Carefully peeking in, they found a trashed storage room that smelled of musty cement and the decay of bodies. It was strong enough to hit them immediately even when the room was large.

The ceiling looked as if it could cave in on them with how many holes there were. It was a mess that was made as if it was to be under renovation but then the outbreak must’ve happened before they could fully finish. The people must have tried to use the room for a hiding place as well.

A light on the floor lit up their side of the room, revealing more giant scratches on a pillar, much to their horror. They suspected it was a licker, but it seemed to be gone now. On a dresser nearby, Claire found more gunpowder and more planks of wood on the floor. It also looked like there were old art and pictures lying around, including a creepy looking jester doll.  _ Comforting _ .

Turning the corner they were met with a corpse lying on the floor with its head blown up. Possibly the work of a rookie cop. Next to it was a door that was lit up by a light right above it, however, a bookcase was tipped over, blocking the way forward. 

On the far side of the room was a section that seemed like it was barred off with what they presumed as important artifacts. In this area, they could see a statue of a woman just behind the bars. Something about it seemed like it was important for their journey. They were about to make their way over there to see it but were stopped in their tracks.

“Oh my god!” Claire gasped covering her mouth in horror.

There was a giant hole in the planks of wood that were covering the bars. It was big enough that it would allow them to walk in, but that wasn’t what stopped them. Right on the other side of the entrance was a pile of dead officers lying on the floor. Flies buzzed in the air as the stench of blood grew intense in such a small space. Severed limbs coated the floor and a dozen blank eyes stared every which way. 

Veronica’s stomach had finally had it and began to churn. The smell was enough to send her over the edge. She felt the bile rise in her throat causing her to turn and make it a few steps before heaving her guts out. While a pile of dead bodies was nothing new at this point, her stomach had fought the urge to vomit for the longest time. It could no longer take the pressure. 

There was also something weird about them. They didn’t look like they were torn apart by zombies or lickers. It seemed too organized to be. Veronica wasn’t thinking about that too much at the moment, however; too busy throwing up what little food she had that day. She barely grew conscious enough to hear Claire’s footsteps come up from behind her and then suddenly, her hair was being pulled back again. A warm hand rubbed along her back gently as she retched a last time.

“Oh fuck,” she croaked. 

“Are you ok?” Claire asked, her voice gentle. Veronica wiped her mouth with her sleeve before looking over at the other brunette.

“Y-yeah. I’m sorry. I just,” she swallowed the spit in her mouth, “couldn’t hold it in anymore.” Her throat burned from the bile and she really wished she had some water to wash it down, but she wasn’t going to risk a possible infection. 

“It’s ok. I honestly don’t blame you at this point.” Veronica nodded as she looked down at her sleeve. Grossed out by the spittle smeared on the fabric, she decided to roll up her sleeves just a little.  _ It’s not like they protect me that much _ . 

“I guess, but the timing is a little inconvenient, don’t you think?” she sighed, glancing down at the puddle at her feet. Her cheeks warmed as the sudden wave of embarrassment of throwing up in front of a pretty girl overcame her.

“It could be worse. You could be peeing your pants in front of a licker,” Claire joked, trying to make the other girl feel better. The smile playing at the corner of her lips was a telling sign that it worked.

“True. Now that would be terrible!” She looked back up at her companion, blue eyes meeting brown ones. The feeling of Claire’s warm hand on her back was all she could feel and the tension between them in that small attic space was slowly growing. It may have only been a few seconds, but it felt like minutes. 

The low light accented Claire’s face and she was stuck in staring at her beautiful features. For a moment, it even looked like the other was doing the same, her eyes flicking down a few times to her lips. Questions from the previous conversation downstairs came to mind immediately. It wasn’t until a fly came buzzing past them to remind them of where they were. Claire cleared her throat as she patted the other girl’s back one last time before finally dropping her hand. 

“Are you feeling any better?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thank you, Claire.” She gave a nod back in return before the two turned back to the carnage in front of them. Veronica had to swallow intensely to keep herself from having a repeat of the past few minutes. If anything, Claire seemed to be having a similar reaction herself. 

“Ugh, I think it’s the smell that’s the worse part. They must have been rotting up here for a few days now,” she noted.

As they walked closer, Veronica noticed a sheet of paper sitting on a table just a few feet away. She reached out to grab it while Claire peeked into the caged part to find a clear path to the statue. Skimming over the words, she gasped softly in horror at what she was reading. Claire turned back to see what was the matter, only for Veronica to hold out the paper for her to take. Reading over it, she realized why the strong reaction.

‘Damn those corporate assholes! They cut me off! After all I’ve done for them! But if that’s how it’s gonna be, so be it. I’m gonna have a little fun of my own as the world goes to shit. I boarded all those filthy pigs up in a steel pen, and set some C4. All I gotta do is detonate it and it’s “sayonara suckers”! But it’s no fun if it’s over too soon, so maybe I’ll give that one raving loon something to really squeal about. Yeah maybe I’ll give him a little toy and tell him, “Kill the guy next to you and I’ll spare the others.” I wonder what he’ll do. You yell about “justice” and “pride” but how many times did you go against me, your own superior? Yeah, you’re such a good cop...So good you had to die. Man is this fun. I need some music for this.’ 

“Claire, I don’t think the smell is the worst part,” Veronica muttered softly while looking over at the bodies sadly.  _ To think that someone would turn their backs on each other like this in a zombie outbreak. _

“Who is this guy?! This can’t be a cop,” Claire scoffed angrily while setting the paper back down on the table. “Not a real one.” With a flame ignited inside her, she turned and easily hopped over the bodies and up to the statue. It was a tall marble statue of a woman holding a jug and in the middle of her belt was a bronze disk. At its base was a stone box with three dials, each with carved symbols on it. 

Looking it over, she realized that this was what they needed. She asked for the little notebook from Veronica and flipped to the clues. Seeing the similar image of the woman with a jug, she knew she was right. A look at the box, she realized that the dials moved, so with a bit of effort she turned them to the same code written down. With the sound of stone grinding, the disk from the statue’s belt was released allowing for Claire to grab it. With it in her hand, she held it up for Veronica to see.

“I got it! It’s statues that we have to look for! They have the medallions,” she explained while returning to the other side. 

“Well, that makes things easier for us,” Veronica replied while taking the little book and putting it back into her pouch. “Statues are obvious and we just need two more to go. One from a lion statue and one from a unicorn statue.”

“Now we just have to find them,” Claire paused and looked over to the body mound, “ and fast. Marvin said in that note he left that there are people you can’t trust out here.”

“And now I can see why,” Veronica added as she understood where Claire was going with this. “It’s possible whoever did this, could still be alive. We need to be careful.”

“For their sake, let’s hope they’re not.” Claire led them both to the blocked off door and leaned down at one side of the fallen shelf. “Here! Give me a hand.” Veronica stood to her other side and used her shoulder to help push the heavy shelf back into place. The path forward was free. Before Claire could open it, Veronica stopped her.

“Wait!” She paused as they both listened for any sounds. With no noticeable hissing, she took it as a good sign. “Ok. We’re clear, I think.”

“Right! I forgot about that. Thanks!”

With that said, she reached over and slowly pushed open the door. The girls drew out their guns when the sound of groaning and chewing reached them. Walking in, the two of them were met with warm light and found themselves on the second floor of a library. It was a beautiful room lined with emerald green wallpaper and wooden trimmings, but if you looked down on the first floor, you were met with the ugly reality. 

Looking over the railing, they watched as a zombie feasted on the back of a dead man, and another zombie wandering around aimlessly. Dead police officers were splayed across the floor along with books that were scattered all over the place. They noticed that there was a walkway on their floor that was broken to their left and nothing to their right. 

Quietly, they walked across to the other side, in hopes of not catching any attention of the dead beneath them. Heading down the stairs to the first floor, they noticed two doors in the room that led to two different sides of the department. One had the teal spade while the other was just a regular door. Luckily for them, the spade door was unlockable with the newly attained key, but they decided to go with the other door first since it would most likely lead to the S.T.A.R.S. office.

They slipped easily through unnoticed to find themselves in front of a copper statue. It was the unicorn and it was sitting on the balcony of the small room they were in. In the shield that the unicorn was posed upon, was a small medallion with a unicorn carving on it. At its base was a stone box with similar dials to the woman statue upstairs. 

“Oh hell yes! Another statue! All we need is one more,” Veronica said while quickly jogging over to solve the code. 

“Yeah, but where is it?”

“It’s gotta be around here somewhere. We’ve only been exploring this side of the station,” she replied while pocketing the medallion. 

“True, but we also don’t have the code to it, right?” Veronica looked down at her book and sighed. Claire was right. The code that was written down was caked in blood and was unreadable.

“Yeah. We might have to play the guessing game when we find it.”

“Great.” Veronica glanced around to see if there was anything of use and noticed something to her immediate left. While she looked at that, Claire walked over to the one other door in the room and found it to be locked on the other side. 

“Damn it!” She huffed in annoyance and kicked the door. “Now how are we going to get there!?”

“I think we can find out!” Claire turned to find Veronica holding up large sheets of paper in her hands. “It’s the rest of the map to the station!”

“Really?!” she smiled excitedly while walking over to peek over Veronica’s shoulder.

“Yeah! So it looks like we’re in the second-floor lounge and while this door would go straight to the S.T.A.R.S. office, it sounds like it’s locked.” Claire nodded with a sigh.

“Yup, from the other side.” Veronica hummed in thought as she looked over any paths. 

“Ok, so it looks like there really isn’t any other way through.” She paused as she looked at the blocked off hallway on the other side. “But, there might be something that could help us in the locker room. We didn’t bother to search it when we were over there.”

“But what could we find that would help?”

“I don’t know. Maybe there’s a tool left behind in one of the lockers that could get this door open. These doors are heavy duty. It would be really hard to break the door down by ourselves without catching some unwanted attention. If there are lickers on the other side, we could get into some serious shit.”

“That’s true. We’ve looked everywhere else in this wing for helpful tools and there really wasn’t much left.”

“Right, and if worse comes to worst, we might have to take down that blockade. But it would take forever to do.”

“I guess we have no other options, huh?”

“I guess not. Maybe we’ll be lucky and find a secret door over there or something,” Veronica joked dryly. Claire raised an eyebrow with a small smirk.

“A secret door?”

“Who knows? We’re trying to find medallions to open a secret passage beneath a giant statue. At this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised.” Claire chuckled and gave a nod.

“I guess it’s possible! It’s not like we have anything to lose just for checking.”

“Well then, let’s head back,” Veronica said while handing the rest of the map to Claire to put in her pouch. “But if this doesn’t work, we might have to reassess our plan here.” Claire didn’t like that thought, but she knew the other was right.

“Then let’s hurry and find out.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After searching almost the entirety of the West Wing of the department, Claire and Veronica had finally reached the S.T.A.R.S. office. There the two girls continue to look for Chris as well as deepen their friendship with some bonding time.

With a new gameplan in mind, the two survivors were about to head back the way they came, when Claire saw something at the corner of her eye. Just as they reached the door, she looked over and noticed a yellow tin box sitting on a nearby table. She stopped Veronica before she could open the door then jogged over to pick it up. It rattled in her hand loudly with something rolling around inside. She opened it and revealed it to be another roll of film, this time labeled as ‘Lion Statue’.

“Wait, as in…” Veronica began in realization.

“Yeah, I think so! This might be our missing puzzle piece!” Claire said while putting it into her pouch.

“How fucking lucky is that?! Just another reason to head over that way!” Claire hummed in agreement.

“Should we clear out the library first? There might be important stuff inside there!”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea! From what I spotted, I only saw two standing zombies, so this should be a piece of cake.”

They carefully walked into the library and glanced around for their targets. One of the zombies finally noticed them from the other side of the room and began hobbling over hungrily. With guns drawn, Claire easily took that one down while Veronica went to take care of the other one. It was still too busy munching on a corpse so it was an easy kill for her. With no sign of any more zombies, they began their search of the first floor.

There was a section of movable bookshelves that stood under the broken floorboards of the second floor. One of them was propped up by a jack with no lever, making moving it impossible. Just moving the shelves was a struggle since they weighed so much. To Veronica’s surprise, however, she had found a box of ammo for herself hidden behind one of them.

“Nice,” she muttered as she reloaded her gun. She glanced up at the broken floorboards above her then at the shelves themselves. “Y’know, these shelves could make a great bridge here if we found the jack,” she said just as Claire came back from searching the other side of the room.

“I suppose so, but why do that when there is a perfectly good walkway over there,” she pointed out with a playful smile. Veronica giggled then shrugged.

“I don’t know. It’s just a thought!”

“Well, it’s a good idea if we do find the jack, but until then, we can just use what’s available!”

“Fair point. Did you find anything?”

“Just a knife off of one of the bodies, but I did find this really weird book,” Claire replied while handing it over for Veronica to look at. It was a red stone book with a strange indent on the side.

“Super weird! It looks like something slots into it.”

“Maybe it’ll be useful for something?”

“Maybe. You never really know in a place like this. Let’s just hold onto it for now, I guess.”

“Ok, did you find anything?”

“Just some ammo, but nothing else really.”

“Then this place is clear. I’m just going to go unlock the door over there real quick then we can head back to the safe room.” 

Veronica nodded in agreement and followed Claire over to the spade door. Just as she was unlocking it, however, a zombie that was lying slumped against the wall suddenly lurched at them with a growl. It surprised them quite a bit since they thought it was actually dead. Veronica grabbed her gun at lightning speed and shot it down before it could even stand up.

“Whoa! Nice job!” Claire breathed. “You’re getting better at this!”

“Thanks,” Veronica replied a little breathless at her own actions. _I suppose I am._

“Door’s unlocked now,” Claire said before slowly opening it to peek out. Just like the map said, it did lead out to the main hall. Glancing around, she could still hear distant thudding from somewhere in the department, but she couldn’t pinpoint where. Looking across the way, she noticed something sitting at the top of the staircase. “Oh! Veronica look! It’s the lion statue!”

“Holy shit! The final medallion!”

“Let’s hurry and get this final clue, then we can get the hell out of here!” 

They turned and headed up the stairs to retrace their steps back to the safe room. There Veronica did some quick work on the new film then looked at how the old one was doing. At this point, enough time had passed for the picture to be developed. 

Taking it out into the other room to look at it in a better light, they found it to portray a photo of a marble statue of a king. In one of his hands was a scepter with a bright red jewel at the top of the staff and in the other was a book. Something about it seemed familiar until Veronica gasped in realization.

“The book!” she exclaimed while grabbing their recent find from the table they had set it on. She compared it to the photo and found her thoughts to be correct. “This book is supposed to be a part of this statue!”

“Well, I’ll be damned! It turned out to be something after all. So then is it a broken piece?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t look like it’s broken in the traditional sense, but my gut says that this could be really important if we put it back! I mean, why have a locked up photo of it, if it wasn’t?”

“That’s very true. And considering the number of statue puzzles we already have to solve, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another. We just have to find it before we leave. Good thinking Veronica!” The said girl grinned, proud at her achievement before setting the book back down on the table.

“We can come back for it when we need it since it's a bit big to carry!” she said before digging through her pouch. 

For the next few minutes, the two survivors organized their pouches better since they were getting full. They left some things on the table for later or deemed useless while also making new ammo with any gunpowder cans that they had found. They also took note of the things that they had seen and added it to both the notebook and the map. With a better system between the two, they finally made their way back up to the second floor. Only this time, they finally went into the men’s locker room.

Claire carefully went in first to find a small locker room connected to another with shower stalls. They could hear water still running from the shower heads and the warm steam that filled the room was a nice reprieve from the rest of the cold station floors. There was a busted water heater standing in the entrance to the showers, but it looked like someone had lowered the pressure to keep it from exploding. 

They carefully searched the lockers to find one padlocked while another had some fire grenade rounds in it. Unfortunately for Claire, she opened one only to get a dead body to fall onto her. She screamed in surprise as it fell against her then crumpled onto the ground fully dead. Veronica turned from her own locker so quick at the sound, her weapon drawn to protect the other.

Claire panted as she calmed herself, both girls realizing it was not a zombie. Her cheeks were pink in embarrassment when she realized Veronica had seen the whole ordeal. The other girl, however, sighed in relief as she withdrew her gun. 

“Are you ok?”

“Y-yeah! I’m fine, it just caught me by surprise!” she said with a small kick to the corpse. Veronica bit her lip to keep herself from giggling as she walked over to flash her light into the locker. Blood had coated the inside clearly showing that the dead man had been in there for quite a while.

“Holy shit.”

“What happened to him?”

“I have no idea, but honestly, I’m not sure if I want to find out,” Veronica said before walking back to her searching spot. While she did that, Claire took a look at the padlocked locker. The combination consisted of three letters and after trying a couple of times, she gave up and turned her head to the other girl.

“Hey, did we find any codes around here?” she asked. Veronica took out her little book and flipped through it before nodding.

“Yeah! Try CAP.” Claire turned the dials to the combination causing the lock to click open. She thanked the brunette before opening the locker. Inside it was some more fire grenade rounds, which if they could find the keycard to the grenade launcher downstairs, they could definitely use them.

“What’s this?” Veronica asked from the other side of the room. Claire turned to find Veronica holding a fancy blue box. Walking over, they both inspected it to find red jewels adorning the top with seemingly one missing right in the middle. 

“Looks fancy!”

“Yeah, but why is it in a locker room?” She gave it a shake and heard something inside it move. “Something’s inside.” She tried prying the lid open but was met with resistance. “Must be locked.”

“Well, until we find whatever that opens it, let’s just leave it here.” Veronica nodded and set it back on the towel rack she found it on. As she was about to turn away, she noticed a flyer on the wall. Reading through it, she hummed. “What is it?”

“This says that there are portable safes being used around the station and it explains how to open them. If we find one, there are lights that light up when the buttons on it are pressed in a certain sequence.”

“If there’s something useful in them, we might as well open them. Just something else to keep an eye out for.”

“Mhm. The list goes on and on.”

Considering the locker room thoroughly searched, they finally began to move forward in hopes of finding something to aid them in getting to the S.T.A.R.S. office. And they were about to get their wish. Looking into the shower area, the stalls lined one side of the room while sinks lined the other. One of the stalls had indeed been left on, water flooding both the bathroom and down the drain. 

On the far side of the room, the wall had a giant hole in it, similar to the one on the third floor. It had looked like something had busted through it. Whatever it was, it was something they had to make sure to avoid, but also thank. They gaped at its size in absolute surprise that there was an opening allowing them to actually move forward with ease.

“Ya’ know, I was joking when I said that we might find a secret door, but this will work just fine!” Veronica grinned happily at the other. Claire mirrored it and led the way through, carefully maneuvering over broken wall bits.

Walking past it, they found themselves in what was probably the female’s shower and locker room. As they entered the locker portion, they saw a man sitting on one of the benches hunched over. Carefully, they walked past it, but only for it to fall forward, crumpling onto the ground. It spooked them causing them to jump back in preparation for it getting up. They waited a moment, but it never did. In one of the lockers, they were lucky to find a canister of gunpowder, but nothing else. 

Now, this was going to be new territory, so the two of them took out their weapons and slowly walked in. It was a dark hallway, lit only by the light above the door that they stood under and a light lying on the ground somewhere down the hall. There was a broken window blowing in the cold night air and the downpour of rain, drenching the floorboards. Shining a flashlight, they noticed on a couch nearby that there were some more fire rounds. To say they were set, was an understatement. Now if they only had the gun.

There were a couple of dead bodies lying around and blood was splattered everywhere, but no walking zombies that they could currently see. In the center of the hallway, they were most shocked to find a dead licker lying on the floor. A bullet hole the size of a shotgun blast in the face was a big indicator of its death.

“Holy shit! You can actually kill them?!” Veronica hissed, too scared to talk any louder than a whisper. 

“The brain must be a weak spot. If I didn’t know any better, I think this would be Leon’s handwork.” Claire glanced up at the nearby door and shined her light on the plaque next to it. “The S.T.A.R.S. office! C’mon!” 

She quickly led them both to the door and dashed inside, too impatient to check carefully for any Licker sounds. Veronica was about to scold her for that but stopped when she noticed Claire’s expression dead set at the other side of the room. Following her stare, there was a brown leather jacket hanging on the wall next to a desk, on it was a familiar looking design. Glancing down at the back of Claire’s jacket, she found the resemblance and easily made the connection. That was Chris’s jacket.

“Chris.” 

Veronica closed the door behind her as she watched Claire walk over to the other side of the room. Both of them glanced around and easily deemed the small room safe and empty. The walls were a blue color with dark brown wood panels, plaques and flags adorning it in praise of the team’s work. There was a small office off to the side meant for the leader of the team and just from glancing in, Veronica could see the giant S.T.A.R.S. mural on the wall. She did notice there was a red herb on the ground, but she decided to pick it up later. 

There were many desks sitting neatly against the wall, but everything looked cluttered. It seemed like they were just packing up, then decided to go on a lunch break with how normal it looked compared to the rest of the station. Following Claire, she saw a computer on a desk in front of a barred off section of the room with what looked like a gun behind it. However, she didn't immediately investigate, instead, she watched as Claire walked up to the jacket hanging on the wall.

“Claire?” Said girl took the jacket off of the wall and let her fingers graze over the fabric. She turned to Veronica with shiny, wet eyes while hugging the jacket close to her chest. Veronica was taken aback; Claire looked like she was going to cry. For as long as she had known her that night, Claire always seemed to be such a brave and badass person that could do anything to survive. And now, she looked so vulnerable.

“This is his jacket,” she whispered then turned to the chair next to her. “This is his desk...but where is he?” 

Veronica almost didn’t know what to say, her body frozen stuck where she stood. All that searching and trying so hard to get to this office, and still no sign of Chris. She could already see the frantic scenarios running through Claire’s head, including the one she dreaded the most. 

Seeing a lone tear fall down Claire’s cheek kicked her comforting side into gear. She took a step forward and placed a hand on top of Claire’s over the jacket. Her other hand reached up to gently brush the tear away with her thumb.

“Don’t cry, Claire,” she spoke softly. “ We can’t lose hope! We still haven’t found him, dead or alive. It’s possible that he’s not even here. M-maybe he’s escaped!”

“B-but why wouldn’t he call or-or,” Claire tried but cut herself off instead. “What if this was all for nothing? What if he’s dead?!”

“No! Claire, we still don’t know that yet.”

“Look around Veronica! Almost everyone here is either a pile of guts or mindless zombies!” 

“But we still haven’t found him anywhere! There’s still a chance! We’ve made it this far, right? Who’s to say that he didn’t either?” She glanced around the room and noticed all of the computers. “There’s gotta be clues around here in this office! An email or something! We just have to look around some more.” She sighed before stepping a tad closer. “Please, don’t give up on me now!” 

They locked eyes for a moment, and before Veronica had time to react, Claire rushed in to pull her into a hug. It took her a second to finally wrap her arms around her, both holding each other tightly. She could feel Claire nuzzle into her neck while she rubbed her back comfortingly, warmth seeping through the fabric. Her heartbeat sped up for a moment before slowing as she relaxed in Claire’s arms. It was like hugging someone she had been friends with for a long time.

It was a moment they couldn't help but melt into, possible feelings to the side. They were stuck in such a terrifying situation that made them truly wonder if they would make it out alive. And if they did, what about everyone else? Like Chris or Leon. To have to go through the chaos of a zombie-infested city with such slim chances of living was truly scary. This hug they shared was desperately needed even with worry on their minds. 

“He’s the only family I’ve got! I can’t lose him too,” Claire sniffled, voice muffled into Veronica’s shirt.

“I know, but we’ll figure this out. I promise! No matter what happens, we have to keep our hopes up or we’re better off dead. We have to make it out of here, if not for us then for them.” Claire pulled away with puffy red eyes.

“Do...do you have one too?” Veronica nodded, eyes starting to water a little at the thought of her last encounter with them.

“A sister, Lily. She’s 13 years old and she’s the most important person in my life. I would do anything for her, just like you would do anything for Chris. So, let’s get out of here alive, for them.” Claire stared with soft eyes before nodding.

“Yeah, yeah ok. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I know you’re scared, but I’ve got you and you got me! We’re gal pals, right?” she smiled while holding out her pinky to the other. Claire giggled softly while wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Yeah! We are. Thank you, Veronica,” she replied while hooking her pinky with the others.

“It’s no problem, Claire,” she said while dropping their hands. “Let’s look around and see if we find anything on Chris. If he’s anything like his sister, I’m sure he’s fine.” Claire smiled before turning to hook the jacket back on the wall.

“Hopefully, as long as he doesn’t let his big head get in the way,” she joked. Both girls laughed at that before glancing over at the desks next to them. With a nod to each other, Claire searched Chris’ desk while Veronica checked the one next to it, both of them sitting on the chairs to give their feet a break for once. 

From a surface level, the desk was very tidy, showing that whoever worked there was a very good officer. That, and that they loved dogs by the framed picture of one next to the computer monitor. The beret sitting nearby was a cute but interesting choice of uniform to be used, at least to Veronica’s knowledge. She picked it up and hummed curiously.

“Are berets a normal thing for S.T.A.R.S. members to wear?” she asked. Claire looked over from searching through a folder.

“Oh, that’s Jill’s! She used to have really long hair a while back up until recently. I’ve seen her wear it a few times to keep her hair out of the way by keeping most of it under the cap,” she explained. “She must’ve left it behind.”

“Oh! I’m assuming you knew all of the S.T.A.R.S. members, then?”

“Actually, I only know a few! Mainly the members of the Alpha team, since Chris was a part of it, but I did meet a few Bravo members at a couple of barbeques,” she smiled fondly at the memory. “Jill was Chris’ right-hand partner! They were almost inseparable from how close of friends they became. For a second there, I thought they were going to end up being together, but it never happened!” She paused. “It probably would’ve broken my heart a few years back since I had the biggest crush on her when we met. She was super pretty and such a badass!”

Veronica froze and caught herself from choking on her own spit. Claire looked over with slightly furrowed eyebrows, noticing the same tension as before. But what she didn’t know was that Veronica was screaming internally for joy because that cemented the one thing she wanted to know. This was a dream come true! But that wasn’t translating very well, however.

“What’s with the face? Is there something wrong with that?”

“N-no! I was-well, I-!” she tried, but Claire wasn’t having it.

“Some girls are gay, you know. Like I said before about preferences, mine just happen to be guys _and_ girls,” she said, irritation lacing her words. _Oh god, she has the totally wrong idea here!_ “So, if that bothers you, may-”

“It doesn’t!” Veronica blurted out, stopping Claire from continuing. She froze before just biting the bullet and saying it. “It _doesn’t_ bother me. It never will bother me, because…” she hesitated, fear still instilled in her from the past.

“Because?” Claire raised an eyebrow.

“Because I like both too,” she explained slowly. Tension eased off of her shoulders, knowing that she had finally said it. Claire let her words sink in, her eyes widening in realization.

“Wait… you’re bisexual too?!” Veronica nodded, still a little uneasy as she had only told a few friends. Her fear was unwarranted as Claire suddenly stood up with the biggest grin, pulling Veronica up along with her. She held the other’s hands in hers while jumping excitedly in place. “I can’t believe this! Two bisexual disasters surviving a zombie apocalypse together! What a coincidence! Oh, to say that I’m relieved to hear that is an understatement!”

“I, uh, well, me too!” Veronica shyly said in surprise, a smile growing on her face. “It’s not every day you meet someone like you!”

“Tell me about it! If you were the opposite, I think we were about to have some major issues with each other. You have no idea how happy I am that you’re not!” Claire sighed. Veronica didn’t know if it was the fluorescent lights on the ceiling highlighting Claire’s excitement, but she could’ve sworn she was blushing. There was a twinkle in her eyes that she almost didn’t catch if wasn’t so attentive to the moment.

“Me too,” she muttered while trying to keep herself from melting at the sight.

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Veronica hesitated and Claire caught that immediately. “I’m sorry, it’s none of my business on whether to know that or not.”

“No, no! It’s ok. I wanted to, but, honestly, I was kind of scared to say,” the brunette replied, squeezing Claire’s hands for comfort. “I’m not really out yet to my family, only a few friends. I guess it was just scary to out myself like that.” 

“So you’re still in the closet then.” 

“Yeah, really deep in. I come from a Hispanic family, and well...,” she trailed off.

“Oh, I understand.”

“But I still should’ve said something. I mean… I trust you Claire and you never gave me a vibe that it would be dangerous to tell you. If anything, I wanted to tell you from the start!” Claire seemed taken aback by that, her cheeks now a deeper flush of pink. 

“Well, I’m glad you think so! ‘Cause I trust you too! But at least we don’t have to worry about that anymore, we’re out to each other and that’ll only strengthen our bond!” They both smiled genuinely at each other, knowing that as friends now, things were going to get better between them. 

“It did! I think it’s safe to say that we’re in this for the long run. I mean, it would be a shame to never see you again after all this survivor bonding.” Claire squeezed their hands a last time.

“It would be a shame.” 

Cute scenarios of being together in a normal setting flooded Veronica’s head and she couldn’t help but want it so badly. Her heart thumped at imagining them holding hands on a date at the mall, but it was quickly set aside to the corner of her mind. A particularly loud creak from the ceiling pulled her back to where she was and reminded her that she first had to survive the city before anything like that was even possible. She sighed softly before glancing around the room.

“We should keep looking. So far, Jill’s desk didn’t have much to offer,” she started. Claire looked over at Chris’s desk and nodded.

“Yeah, same with Chris. No notes, no documents. His computer doesn’t even work anymore.”

“Figures.”


End file.
